


When Stars Collide

by gurgi27



Series: BH6 Aftermath [2]
Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family Drama, Gen, Multi, Psychological Drama, Tadashi's there in spirit, Various OCs - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-04
Updated: 2016-08-10
Packaged: 2018-07-12 06:13:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 34
Words: 90,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7088590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gurgi27/pseuds/gurgi27
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When mysterious things begin to happen in the city of San Fransokyo (earthquakes, meteors, and strange men in blue boxes appearing out of nowhere), it's up to the Big Hero team to figure out just what is going on, before it's too late.</p><p>Part Two of: BH6 Aftermath</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Earthquake

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Dr Who or Big Hero 6. Their rights remain with their respective creators.
> 
> This story takes place after my BH6 one-shot, Sick Day, several months after the events of the movie.

Chapter One: Earthquake

Hiro Hamada stared out the window of his third story bedroom. Dark clouds hung low in the sky while water ran down the glass panes. The sky's tears mirrored the ones the fourteen-year-old boy wouldn't, or couldn't, let fall.

The dark-haired boy toyed with a small robot he'd named Megabot. The deceptively simple design had won many a bot fight before he'd found a new path in life. It was a path that changed him in so many ways. But that wasn't the reason he felt the now familiar ache in his chest.

Several months had passed since his older brother, Tadashi, had died. It was still hard, even though he had all the support in the world from his gang of college-aged friends. Not to mention the somewhat goofy looking robot his brother had left behind.

Baymax had become part of the family, an integral part of Hiro's identity. And when they'd unwittingly become super heroes, well, that also changed things. Saving people's lives had helped heal at least a small part of the dark mass still living inside him.

But the rain. The rain made it seem as though none of that had happened. He felt alone, cut off from the rest of the world. It was the same feeling he'd had off and on since Tadashi's… death. He couldn't quite bring himself to think murder, even though the fire that killed him had been set on purpose.

With a sigh, Hiro set Megabot back on the desk. Sometimes it helped to hold the cold metal body, a reminder of what he'd given up, and what he'd gained. But, today, it didn't help. Not even thinking about all the good that had come from that tragic event helped.

Trying to push past the lethargy, Hiro swung away from his desk and sent his wheeled chair across the floor. The castors lost traction as they connected with a shirt he'd dropped and not bothered to pick up. The slight jolt almost unseated him, but he managed to stay upright.

Why did it have to rain? It had rained the day of Tadashi's funeral. Despite there not being a body, there was a headstone. The service had been short, with black umbrellas held high to ward off the crying sky. And then, later, it had continued to pelt against the house. Hiro had sat at the top of the stairs leading to his room while his friends and aunt consoled each other on the second floor above the Lucky Cat Café.

Hiro clenched his fists. He wouldn't cry. Not even when he remembered Baymax's words that it was okay to cry, that it was a natural response to pain. And he was in pain. Emotional pain. Why hadn't it rained since then? Why did it have to rain now?

The boy dropped his gaze to the floor. Near the wall sat the red case where Baymax was stored. The robot was not currently activated, and he was almost tempted to call out with the one word sure to wake the medical bot, but he couldn't make it come out.

An almost sonic-level sound seemed to pierce his eardrums and the boy cried out as the ultra-hi tone wave crashed through his skull. What the…? It left his eyes watering and his balance off as he lunged away from the chair, the world seeming to heave around him. He misjudged the distance and ended up slamming into the floor instead. "Ow!" he exclaimed.

Still clenching his teeth, Hiro didn't hear the telltale sound of Baymax activating. But by the time the robot had inflated and stepped free of his case, the sound had stopped.

"Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion," the robot announced. He looked down to where Hiro remained, nursing his knees. "Hiro, you have fallen."

Hiro almost hissed through his teeth. "Yeah. Misjudged the distance." He glanced up at the blinking eyes on the white balloon head.

"I will scan you now," the bot announced. "Scan complete. You seem to have caused minor contusions to your knees. Also, your neurotransmitter and hormone levels are low, indicating emotional distress. I also detect a slight irregularity in your breathing and heart rate."

Looking up through his mop of dark hair, Hiro let out a sigh. "Wasn't expecting that to happen," he confessed, feeling his heart beat against his rib cage. He took Baymax's offered hand and stood. "There was just this incredibly high pitched sound that…"

The ground suddenly shook beneath them, causing him to pitch forward into Baymax's large, inflated belly. Overhead, the light flickered and the windows rattled. Below, the boy could hear the screams of café goers, along with the sound of breaking glass.

The white vinyl-covered robot held the boy steady as the ground continued to shake, making the walls creak and small furniture to move around.

"What the-?" Hiro exclaimed as his bed began to move towards them.

Baymax somehow managed to turn so the boy was facing the middle of the room, away from the bed, making it crash into him instead of the flesh and blood of his friend. "Earthquake," the robot said in answer to the boy's question. "Six point four, I believe."

Hiro's eyes widened as more screams came up the stairs from the street level. The child genius pushed free of the robot's massive arms to run for the stairs, taking them two at a time. "Aunt Cass!" he called out as he ran.

"Wait," Baymax warned, too late. "It is yet not safe." The robot seemed to let out a sigh as his young charge ignored him, plunging down the still heaving stairs.

The café was a mess. Several of the pasty displays had fallen to the ground, littering the floor near the counters with glass. About half a dozen patrons sat or stood, looking more shaken than harmed. A few seemed to have sustained minor injuries, but Hiro didn't worry about that as he looked frantically around for the one person on his mind.

Broken plates and mugs lay scattered across the floor as he navigated towards the counter area where hot coffee had spilled from broken urns. He paused, his shoes crunching on the glass as he looked around, trying to find his aunt. But no matter how much he twisted, he couldn't see her light brown covered head anywhere. "Aunt Cass! Aunt Cass!" His voice felt dry as he called out.

The café owner didn't usually leave the store during business hours. Hiro raced back to the back section, looking around the kitchen area, but to no avail. Finally, he saw the closed door of the rear storage area; somehow knowing his aunt was inside. He tried to open it but the usually inward swinging door wouldn't budge.

"Pardon me," Baymax said from the front of the café. He skirted the wreckage as best as he could, scanning each individual to assess his or her injuries. None required immediate medical attention, though attention would be needed at some point.

Hiro pounded on the door, unaware that tears were now streaming down his face. "Aunt Cass!" Something tightened in his chest as he thought about his aunt, possibly lying crushed under the storage shelves inside that room. "Baymax! Baymax! Help me!"

The white giant swiveled to look in Hiro's direction, noting his accelerated heart rate and respirations. Side stepping more debris, he made his way to the boy's side. "I detect one life sign inside," he said.

Almost hiccuping with his tears, Hiro continued to pound on the door. "I can't get it open! I can't! Why won't it open?"

"There is something blocking the door," the robot announced unnecessarily. "I will remove it now." Pulling back one arm, he firmly pressed his hand against the wood and pushed. The door flew off its hinges with the force, pushing a fallen shelf back into the one behind it.

Flour, and who knew what else, lay scattered across the floor. Several more shelves lay overturned or tilted.

Hiro gave a strangled sob as he saw a hand coming from under one of the overturned shelves. He made to run into the room but was pressed back against the door's frame by his companion as the floor began to shake again.

"Please remain stationary until the shaking has stopped," Baymax requested, even though he was holding the boy firmly under the doorway, just to be safe.

Despite his request, Hiro tried to break free of the restraining arms. "Aunt Cass! Aunt Cass!" He pushed at the vinyl skin restraining him, with little to show for his efforts. Baymax was not moving.

"It is not yet safe," Baymax admonished in a gentle tone.

The ground continued to shake, but with less severity than before, until it finally subsided. It didn't take long. Once it stopped, Baymax turned to scan the room once more. "Please remain here while I stabilize the patient," he said.

Not waiting for a sign of acknowledgment, the robotic nurse moved into the room, skirting fallen debris and thrown furniture, pushing back shelves as necessary. Coming upon the area where Hiro had seen his aunt, Baymax pushed the shelf back into position, revealing her underneath.

Sensing Hiro might try and enter the room against advice, he put out a restraining arm to try and deter the boy. "Please wait while I extract the patient and bring her to you." He bent to gently pick up the unconscious woman.

Hiro watched, gripping the edge of the door frame until his knuckles were white. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, telling him he'd somehow bit either his lip or tongue, though he was too numb to tell which.

Soon, Baymax returned to the doorway, turning to allow passage through the narrow opening. Hiro quickly scrambled out of the way to give him access to the rest of the café.

The robot continued back into the main area of the store, moving to a padded bench bolted to the wall. Once there, he carefully set Hiro's aunt on the fabric covering. "Emergency response teams have been dispatched," he announced as a circle with a red cross flashed on his screen. "Estimated arrival time, ten minutes."

Hiro followed him into the café, kicking aside broken glass. No one else in the café seemed hurt by the aftershock, though it was hard to tell. His eyes were focused solely on his aunt. "How is she?" he asked, almost afraid of the answer.

Baymax moved to apply a bandage to the woman's forehead, just below the hairline on the left side. "Most notable injuries include lacerations to the head and arms, minor abrasions to the legs, and contusions. I also detect signs of a concussion."

The café's guests looked on as the medical bot tended to the proprietress. Cass Hamada had a smile for everyone. And everyone loved Cass.

"You're neurotransmitter levels are fluctuating and your respiration has increased," Baymax observed as he turned to the boy. "Please do not be alarmed. Your aunt's injuries are not serious. The shelf protected her from sustaining more serious harm."

But Hiro didn't relax until the sirens in the distance grew louder, stopping outside the café. With the arrival of the paramedics, he almost breathed a sigh of relief, though everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. And his head was killing him.

While Baymax brought a medic up to speed, several others attended to those café goers who had been injured. Thankfully, none of the former needed to be transported to the hospital, and they quickly left to seek out loved ones, or a good stiff drink.

Hiro came back to his senses long enough to realize the paramedics were wheeling his aunt out into the rain. One held a poncho over her head to keep her dry. The gurney paused as he called out but continued on when he didn't make any other sound.

Outside, the rain continued to pour down. Thunder filled the silence left behind as the sirens screamed away.

"Your body temperature is low," Baymax said as he wrapped his arms around the boy from behind. Heat began to radiate outward as his belly glowed red.

Despite his friend's kind attentions, Hiro felt as though his head was full of cotton, his ears buzzing. He realized he was shivering the moment he felt the heat begin to spread across his shoulders. Hiro blinked, and when he opened his eyes, he thought he was seeing things.

Honey Lemon stood dumbfounded in the doorway of the café. She said something softly in Spanish as she moved into the shattered remains of the store. GoGo, Wasabi, and Fred stared from behind the light-haired chemist. They crowded in behind her as she just stared at the mess.

"Wow," Fred commented as he accidentally stepped on a broken plate. "I swear this place got hit the worst. I mean, it's almost as if some super villain used some kind of seismic doomahicky to isolate the quake's area or something."

Hiro shook his head, trying to clear out the buzzing. He felt toasty warm now, realizing Baymax still held him in his arms. "What? You're not saying…?" He looked at Honey and GoGo.

GoGo shrugged, popping her gum. "Looks that way, though I'm not sure about the super villain part. Seems several parts of the city have been hit."

Wasabi righted one of the televisions, plugging it back into the wall. He gave a sigh of relief when it came on, albeit with a bit of static.

A news anchor popped into view, a map of the city behind him, with several red dots pock-marking the area. "For those just joining us, isolated earthquakes have been reported throughout the area. Seismologists are still at a loss to explain how these quakes can be so localized, leaving sections of the city untouched. We'll update as we get more information."

Hiro pushed away from Baymax's embrace, still feeling dizzy. "What? How's that even possible?" He stared at the screen as the areas hit were shown. It almost looked like someone had played a game of battleship, the earth shaking in clearly defined radii.

Honey watched the boy with concern. Even though she had become used to Hiro's unconventional ways, she knew that look. She glanced at Baymax for confirmation.

"Hiro is experiencing emotional distress," Baymax confirmed, seeing her look.

Fred frowned, then moved further into the café. "Yo, Hiro. Your aunt around? Maybe you should go…"

The boy turned to face the t-shirt clad man with such a look on his face that his words choked in his throat.

"Ms. Hamada has been transported to the hospital for medical attention," Baymax announced. "She sustained several lacerations, contusions, and abrasions during the course of the earthquake and resulting aftershock."

Hiro bit his lip to keep from crying again, still tasting the faint hint of blood on his tongue. When his friends looked his way, he could only nod.

"Man, I'm sorry," Fred apologized, his mouth turned down. "You okay? You don't look so good."

Behind the shag of dark hair, Hiro's face looked more pale than usual. The dizziness swelling again. "I uh… I don't think…" The boy's words trailed off as his knees buckled.

His friends let out a collective expression of surprise, but it was GoGo who caught him before he could hit the ground. "For such a small fry, you sure seem to weigh a lot," she complained as she eased the boy to the floor. She blinked, realizing Hiro was out. "Ah, man. Now how did that saying go? If the face is pale…?"

"Raise the tail," Wasabi supplied, then glanced towards Baymax for confirmation.

"What Wasabi said is correct," the robot confirmed as he moved closer. "Hiro's blood sugar levels have dropped. This is likely the cause of his current unconscious state."

Honey Lemon bit her lip. "Maybe it's because of the shock?"

Fred helped GoGo find some seat cushions to raise the boy's legs above his heart. It didn't take long, as plenty had been scattered around the floor.

"My scans do not indicate a significant decrease in bodily functions, or oxygen levels," Baymax observed. "It is likely the root cause is psychological in nature. I observed possible depression prior to the earthquake."

Fred nodded. "Yeah, I can dig that." He glanced towards the front windows, where the rain continued to pelt down. "Remember, guys? It was raining the day of the funeral too. Maybe Hiro was depressed because of that?"

Honey Lemon nodded, her hands clasped together. "I'm so glad you called us," she said to the medical robot. "My apartment wasn't even touched by the quake, but knowing Hiro was trying to deal with the pain alone…"

"Stupid kid," GoGo said quietly as she brushed enough debris out of the way to sit down.


	2. Distraction

Chapter Two: Distraction

Hiro felt as though he were floating. It was rather surreal, especially after his body just suddenly crumpled under him for no reason. He hadn't been injured during the quake, well nothing serious at any rate. He probably had a few scratches, but nothing major.

He looked around him and only saw darkness, like he was lying in a giant puddle of ink. What was going on? Was he unconscious?

Fred's words buzzed around in his head, along with those of the news anchor. Isolated quakes. Super villain. How was it all possible? Everyone knew earthquakes had long reaching effects on the area around the initial fault, sometimes reaching hundreds of miles, pending on the line.

The only plausible explanation included the possibility that someone had somehow manufactured a device that could create area specific equivalents to an earthquake. But he wasn't sure if that was really possible. Wouldn't he have heard of such tech before, somewhere? Even if not through the conventional channels?

Trying to think made his brain buzz even more. But that buzzing was soon replaced with the incessant sound of falling rain. He grit his teeth, wanting to plug his ears against the sound.

His world seemed to shake and he saw Tadashi running ahead of him. A breeze picked up his cap and blew it free from his head, sweeping it back towards Hiro. He was running towards a burning building and Hiro screamed out a warning, but to no avail. His brother couldn't hear him.

.......................................

Hiro sat up, almost bashing his forehead into Wasabi's nose with the force. He panted, like he'd been running the final sprint of some race, his heart racing just as fast. He stared ahead, looking almost blindly out the glass front of the café.

It somehow occurred to him that it was a miracle the glass panes hadn't come loose from their frames, crashing down to the ground. But those thoughts were replaced with the odd image of a tall man with brown hair running across the area in front of the windows. His dark coat trailed out behind him as he ran from the left side to the right, disappearing from view.

"Easy now," Wasabi was saying, more than grateful that the boy's sudden jolt back to consciousness hadn't bashed him in the face. All the same, he felt his nose experimentally, just to be safe.

The boy's breath caught in his throat as he realized someone had moved to hold him around the shoulders. "It's going to be okay," Honey Lemon's voice said in his ear. He could feel her thin fingers pressing into his skin.

Hiro shuddered, pressing a hand to his head. "What happened?"

"You fainted," Baymax responded, bending over the boy. "Scans indicate your blood pressure is now elevated, along with an increase in pulse and respiration. Please remain in your current position until any residual dizziness subsides. Might I suggest consuming something to help stabilize your blood sugar levels?"

Closing his eyes, Hiro let out a shudder. "I saw Tadashi," he admitted. "He was running towards the fire and I couldn't make him stop." Tears leaked from his eyes once more and Honey Lemon gave him an extra squeeze that made him open his eyes.

"Disturbing dreams are not uncommon in those suffering emotional or mental trauma," Baymax said. "Such events can occur at any time and may leave the individual feeling weak and exhausted."

The robot suddenly went more upright. "I have just received an update on your aunt. Her vital signs are stable and she is expected to make a full recovery. The hospital plans on keeping her overnight for observation."

Honey Lemon almost cracked his ribs with her hug. "Isn't that wonderful, Hiro? Aren't you glad you added in that protocol?" She was referring to the upgrade Hiro had added to Baymax, allowing him to access hospital records within certain criteria, mainly in the off change that one of them ended up in the hospital and they couldn't get answers from the staff.

Hiro moved away from Honey's hands and unsteadily got to his feet. He noticed the light outside had decreased. "How long was I out?" he finally asked, not sure if the sky was darker because of the storm or because of the time.

"Not long," GoGo assured, though she looked a bit guiltily at the cleared section of the café. With nothing else to do, she and Fred had worked on cleaning up some of the debris in the hope of making cleanup easier when Aunt Cass returned.

Baymax held up one finger. "You were out for fifty seven minutes and thirty nine seconds," he said helpfully. "I monitored your vital signs most carefully while you were unconscious."

Hiro patted the robot's nearest extremity, which happened to be the outstretched arm. "Oh yeah? Thanks, buddy. I appreciate it."

"I still suggest consuming some form of sustenance," the white robot said. "Your blood sugar levels are still low. This may encourage further disorientation and another fainting spell."

Rubbing at one eye, Hiro nodded. "Yeah. Okay. Something to eat." He looked around with an air of distraction. The oddest sensation niggled at the back of his mind that he was forgetting something. Something important.

"Have a lollipop."

Before the boy could protest, Baymax had plopped a red sucker between his lips. He looked up in surprise, blinking back the confusion. "Huh?"

Fred stared at Hiro, his eyes wide. "Man, you were totally spacing out again. Maybe you should, I don't know, sit down?"

"Fred's right," Honey Lemon agreed, the concern obvious in her voice.

Wasabi found a chair and sat it in front of the boy. "You're kind of making us really freak out, you know."

Looking around again, Hiro realized all his friends had the same look in their eyes, like they were afraid he'd keel over or something. Well, except for Baymax. He did manage to look concerned, but his goofy body made it a little harder to take it seriously. With a sigh, he plopped down into the chair, the others letting out sighs of relief.

"Okay," GoGo spoke up. "So now what? I mean, we can keep cleaning things up, but I'm honestly curious about these crazy earthquakes. There haven't been any more, have there?"

Baymax straightened up from looking Hiro over. "My scanners have not detected any further anomalies since the last aftershock. I am scanning local police scanners and social media to confirm." His eyes seemed to stare blankly at space for a moment before he blinked again. "Scan complete. There are no further confirmed earthquakes in the area."

Wasabi almost melted into another chair. "That's a relief."

While his friends continued to dither about the cause of the quakes, Hiro's mind wandered off again. He absently sucked on his lollipop as his brain churned. What was he forgetting? Was it something he heard? Something he saw? Something he'd felt? What was it?

Images overlapped in his head, images from his dream and from just waking. There was someone running in front of the café, running with dark-ish hair and long legs. But with the overlapping images, they were running towards the fire-engulfed auditorium of the science expo. And it made it hard to tell who exactly was running.

Even when he saw Tadashi's hat come flying off the person's head, he still wasn't sure what was going on. Was it Tadashi? Was it someone else? He growled in frustration. Why couldn't he remember?

"Easy now," GoGo said, breaking Hiro from his thoughts. "You might want to take out that stick before you gnaw it to death."

Hiro pulled the tightly rolled paper from his mouth, realizing the hard candy was long gone and he'd been mashing it with his teeth. He spit out a segment of paper, making a face.

"Lunch's ready!" Wasabi called out as he moved into the café proper.

He'd somehow managed to whip up something that almost smelled appetizing, Hiro thought. Considering that Wasabi was actually a pretty accomplished sushi chef…. Well, that wasn't giving him the proper kudos, but in his current state, the boy didn't feel all that hungry.

"All right!" GoGo all but high-fived the dark-skinned man as he brought in the loaded tray of noodles and teriyaki chicken. "Let's get this grub on!"

Wasabi shouldered the tray onto a table, now surrounded by chairs. "Hope you don't mind I used a few things from your aunt's kitchen," he apologized, nodding to the stairs leading up to the living level of the café. "I would have asked, but you were kind of out of it."

Hiro smacked himself. "Don't tell me I zoned out again!" This was becoming a bad habit, and fast. What was wrong with him?

Honey Lemon breezed over, setting her broom aside. The area looked much better now. And someone had thought to put up the "closed" sign in the store's window. "No one's blaming you," she said with an awkward side hug before sitting down to eat.

"No biggie, Hiro," Fred said as he flopped into an empty chair. With the announcement of food, he'd also abandoned cleaning supplies. Fred never turned down free food, even though he could more than afford to feed the Hamada family for a month on his daily allowance.

Baymax moved to indicate Hiro should join his friends. "Periods of mental distraction are not uncommon in those suffering emotional trauma."

"Gotta admit, though," Fred broke in, "looking at you was kinda like looking at one of those wax dolls in a museum. Thought you might need to get checked out at the hospital or something but Baymax insisted you stay in his sights."

The robot seemed to blush slightly. "I detected no serious cause for alarm. Your vital signs remained stable, though your hormonal levels fluctuated. It is not unexpected."

Wasabi dished up a healthy serving of noodles and pushed the plate in front of the boy genius. "Eat up before it gets cold," he warned. "Got kind of annoying hearing a constant report on your blood sugar levels." He rolled his eyes towards the giant vinyl marshmallow,trying to hide just how worried he really was.

Hiro grabbed for a pair of chopsticks and stuffed his face to stave off any further comments from his friends. He'd eaten a decent breakfast, or so he'd thought. But, if so, that didn't make much sense either. He knew he wasn't hypoglycemic. Or was it hyper? He could never remember the difference.

The others visibly relaxed as he stuffed his face. Each took a serving and began eating with gusto. The food was pretty good, all things considered. And the place looked much better too.

Gotta stop doing that, Hiro admonished himself. Spacing out certainly didn't help his friends out. "So, uh," he hesitated, causing all eyes to turn his way. "We uh, figure out anything about the quakes yet?"

"Not really," Wasabi spoke up. "Without going to the actual epicenter, we probably won't either. But we all agreed there's no way they occurred naturally."

Hiro stuffed more food into his mouth at a look from GoGo. "Okay," he said the moment his mouth was empty again. "So we suit up and check out the area."

"You mean areas," Fred corrected as he held up a fork dangling noodles. "News reports say there were a lot of them."

Hiro blinked. "Right. So we suit up and check out the epicenters and see if we can find anything."

Honey Lemon exchanged glances with GoGo. "You sure that's such a good idea? I mean, with you spacing out and all that."

Baymax stepped forward. "Hiro's blood sugar levels are stabilizing. As long as he keeps the correct balance of carbohydrates to protein, I do not believe there will be any further problems."

"What he said," Hiro shrugged as he speared a piece of chicken for emphasis. "Guys, I'm fine. Really. Just got a little preoccupied is all."

All eyes turned to Baymax for confirmation. The robot blinked. "I will continue to monitor Hiro's vital signs. If I detect the possibility of relapse, I will immediately transport him back here. Is that acceptable?"

The resulting nods and exclamations of support drowned out Hiro's protests. He hated to admit it, but Baymax would probably keep tabs even if he wasn't spacing out. After all, Baymax considered him his number one patient.

"Fine," Hiro reluctantly agreed, finishing his helping of chicken. He shook his head when Wasabi moved to give him more, and then patted his stomach.

Wasabi tsked. "You don't eat enough for a growing boy," he complained but left off when Hiro burped. "Now that's just gross."

Hiro smirked a little but excused himself and went to find the bathroom. He could hear the sounds of the others cleaning up as he walked up the stairs.

.......................................

Looking in the bathroom mirror, Hiro observed a gangly boy with a pale face hiding behind dark, unkempt hair. No wonder the others looked worried, he decided. If it were someone else, he'd be worried too. With a sigh, he finished his business, and then splashed cold water on his face to try and make himself more alert.

By the time he returned to the main floor, the others had moved to the garage. He found them helping Baymax into his red armor.

"What took you so long?" GoGo teased. "We're all just about ready to go." She toyed with one of her flying discs before settling it back in place.

It was true, though. The others had already donned their gear. Fred flipped back his lizard mask, grinning like a mad man. "Oh man! I can't wait to get going! This is so exciting! Think we might come across a super villain trying to set off another quake?" He practically danced inside his suit.

Hiro quickly ducked into his gear, pulling the helmet over his mop of hair. He double-checked the seals on Baymax's armor, then climbed on his back. Securing the matching magnetic bearings, he ordered Baymax to open the garage door. Luckily, it had stopped raining, though clouds still scudded across the sky.

The rest of the group followed them out onto the driveway while Wasabi made sure the door flipped back into place behind them. Just as the plasma-blade wielding hero was about to suggest he just driver over, Baymax picked him up with one arm, depositing him next to Hiro.

Additional magnets secured the acrophobe in place as the others scrambled to their positions. Once everyone was ready, Baymax fired his repulsers and they were off.

"I hate this part!" Wasabi all but screamed as they rocketed up into the air.

In a matter of moments, Baymax leveled out and began scanning the area. He dove towards one area of destruction a good ten miles away from home base, closer to the coastline.

When they were less than ten feet from the ground, Fred leapt down, landing like a hobgoblin, splashing mud as he landed. "Wow!" His eyes went large as Baymax settled on higher ground. "Check it out."

The long fissure they'd landed in looked more like a crater. Melted slag filled the lowest part with a dull colored metal. A light layer of mud coated the surface.

"What in the world," Wasabi said as he flipped up his visor. "You can't tell me that's not man-made."

Hiro jumped free of Baymax's back and moved to inspect the mass before them. "Almost looks like it dropped from the sky," he observed, "super heated, then crash landed." He turned to his red-clad robot companion. "Baymax?"

Baymax shuffled for a better view. "I concur with your observations," he said.

Honey Lemon moved closer to the metal, giving it a critical look over. "We should take a sample," she said, pulling out a specimen bag from her pocket. Always the chemist, she'd certainly came prepared.

With a nod, Wasabi activated his plasma blades and carved out a small chunk of the metal, letting it cool before handing it to Honey. "I wonder if the others look just like this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As in the previous chapter, this is more from Hiro's perspective, so there are moments of "time lapse" where he's zoned out. But don't worry, things will come together a lot more very soon.


	3. Complications

Five sites later, Hiro scuffed his boots in frustration. "They all look the same," he complained. And it was true. Each of the previous locations barely differed, even when it came down to size and depth. He'd had Baymax measure them.

Wasabi finished carving out their sixth sample and handed it to Honey Lemon. "That's way too many for coincidence," he agreed.

GoGo moved around to the far side of the melted metal. "Someone else's been here," she called out as she stared at the ground. "I've got footprints."

"Maybe a seismologist?" Fred suggested.

"Maybe," GoGo answered, but didn't look convinced. "If so, why only in this one? Enough time's passed they could have visited them all. It doesn't make sense."

Baymax swiveled his head to encompass the area. "I do not detect any other life signs within a one mile radius. And those life signs coming from within a two mile radius are not human."

Hiro winced as a high piercing shriek filled his head. He pressed a hand to his helmet, just over his left ear. When he looked around, however, no one else seemed to notice. "Can anyone else hear that?"

Honey Lemon and Wasabi exchanged glances. "Hear what, Hiro?"

"Do you hear anything?" GoGo looked to Fred, who shrugged.

Hiro went down on one knee, both hands now clutching at his helmet. "Ah! Make it stop!"

For all of two seconds, Baymax appeared to contemplate shedding his armor. He thought better of it, though, and moved to the boy's side. "Hiro seems to be experiencing distress. Scans indicate an increase in nociceptor activity, indicating pain. I also detect swelling near the eardrums, increased respirations and pulse."

"Time to get out of here," GoGo nodded towards their fallen leader.

Baymax needed no extra encouragement to scoop the boy up in his arms and engage his wings. GoGo and Honey grabbed onto the robot's wings as he engaged his thrusters, leaving Wasabi and Fred to fend for themselves.

Fred grabbed Wasabi and had him wrap his arms around his lizard suit as he prepared to jump clear of the crater. Thankfully, they weren't too far from decent cover, though they would likely take longer to return to home base than the others.

.............................

Baymax shot straight up to clear the fissure they'd been in. Once clear of any obstructions, he changed course to skim just under the lowest clouds while Honey and GoGo clung for dear life. The robot was moving much faster than usual.

Hiro let out a scream, almost flailing like a fish, causing Baymax to lose some altitude as he adjusted for the boy's motions.

From somewhere behind them, a low rumble filled the air. Looking back, Honey gasped in shock. A cloud of dirt and debris shot up from the wooded outskirts of town. The longer she watched, the more obvious it became as to what was going on.

"Another quake," Honey half whispered, her words whipped away by the speed of their flight.

Hiro suddenly went limp and Baymax looked down at his still form. "Oh no," the robot intoned, then looked forward with seeming greater determination. Making a snap judgment, he altered course, heading not for Hiro's house, but for Fred's.

With the Whitmore family usually out of town, Fred's house had become a sort of second base of operations. There, they had more room to move around and do things. They'd even set up a small lab and medical area, in case of injuries that needed to be treated. After all, they couldn't just waltz into a hospital if they were injured doing super hero stuff.

Honey relayed the change of location to Fred and Wasabi, wincing as she heard Wasabi's terror-filled cries over the link. "Might want to stock up on some Dramamine," she mentally noted, well aware of Wasabi's many issues. But if those two could get to a clear enough area, it wouldn't be hard for Fred to radio for help from his butler, Heathcliff.

Using the equivalent of a garage door opener, Baymax sent a signal to open the hidden doors Fred had installed to their wing of the house. He carefully fired off his repulsers to land securely inside the structure before the roof segment moved back into place.

The moment it was safe to do so, Honey and GoGo dropped from Baymax's back, moving to give the robot room. The medical bot moved to a cot and put the unconscious boy down. They could hear his ragged breathing through the helmet, which GoGo removed.

"He doesn't look so good," GoGo commented as she looked at Hiro's sweaty face. The boy was still pale; his lips now tinged purple. "Not good at all."

With the help of Honey Lemon, Baymax shed his armor. "Hiro is in shock," he announced, "though I cannot detect any signs of internal trauma. I will apply oxygen now." He moved to retrieve an oxygen tank nearby. Attaching the necessary accessories, he placed the mask over Hiro's mouth and nose.

Oxygen flowed through the tubing and Honey thought Hiro looked a hint better than before. She thanked her lucky stars they'd thought to make sure their little trauma unit was well stocked. Fred's idea, really. And with Heathcliff more than willing to follow whatever instructions the fan boy gave him, the whole thing had come together rather quickly in a short amount of time. The butler must have some serious connections. "Please be okay," she whispered.

Baymax looked over his patient once more, completing a more thorough scan. "I still cannot detect any internal trauma, other then the previously observed swelling near the eardrums. I do detect a decrease in certain neurotransmitter levels, as well as an unexplainable drop in blood sugar levels."

"What!?" GoGo exclaimed. "That's not possible. We saw him stuffing his face like no more than an hour or two ago. There's no way his body would burn through all that protein and carbs so fast."

Baymax nodded. "I agree. There must be another explanation. I will consult the medical databases online." His face seemed to go blank as he connected to the WI-FI. "Download complete," he announced. "I cannot find any information that explains Hiro's condition."

Honey pressed her hands together. "That's not good." It was very rare that Baymax was stumped. In fact, she couldn't think of a single time when he'd been unable to give a correct diagnosis. "It's not something autoimmune, is it?"

The robot shook his head. "I detect no abnormalities on the cellular level." He paused. "There does seem to be in increase in brain activity," he observed, leaning back towards his patient.

"Tadashi. No!" Hiro gasped from behind the oxygen mask. His words were barely audible. His arms seemed to move of their own accord, reaching out for some unseen object, before falling back to the bed's firm mattress, like limp spaghetti. Tears leaked from his closed eyes and he seemed to wince against some kind of force. "No!"

"Is he dreaming?" GoGo asked, moving closer.

Baymax blinked. "Brain activity indicates that to be a possibility. Probability suggests night terrors. Diagnosis, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."

"PTSD?" Honey's eyes widened. It wasn't exactly unexpected. Hiro had witnessed his brother's murder, after all. Not to mention all of the crazy missions they'd been on. But what did PTSD have to do with rapidly decreasing blood sugar levels?

.............................

Hiro felt like he was falling. The ground would rush up and meet him at any moment now. He just knew it. It was only a matter of when.

The last thing he remembered was head-splitting pain, but it was gone now. Instead, there was an almost cottony numbness. He blinked and found he was back in the portal.

Swaths of cotton candy looking clouds filled his view, most notably in hues of pink and blue. Debris floated around him, the remains of Krei Tech's demolished building. And something else.

Hiro moved his arms and he shot forward, narrowly avoiding various giant shards of glass and steel. Looking around, he realized he was moving without the aid of Baymax. In fact, he couldn't see Baymax at all. Nor was he wearing his custom-built suit. But he was distracted from that thought as he saw a familiar object just ahead.

Navigating around more debris, Hiro came abreast of the capsule they'd found Professor Callaghan's daughter in. The window was frosted over, just like it had been when he and Baymax had found it. He half thought he heard the robot say, "I have located the patient," but wasn't sure.

He grabbed a hold of the capsule, pressing his fingers into a crevice for support. With one hand, he wiped at the frost, his own breath coming out in a fine mist. But when he looked past the glass, his heart seemed to stop.

Instead of Abigail Callaghan's sleeping form facing him, he saw Tadashi. Only he wasn't the same. Burns covered his exposed arms and face. His clothes were blackened. And he was wearing his black cap.

Something knocked into the small ship, sending him spinning away from it as he lost his grip. "Tadashi! No!" he called out, reaching uselessly towards the slowly moving capsule. "No!"

His body turned without him telling it to and his eyes went wide. A giant piece of concrete was heading straight towards him. He flailed, but made no progress. The projectile kept coming and he put up his hands to cover his face, flinching against the inevitable blow.

.............................

Hiro let out a strangled scream, making both Honey Lemon and Fred jump. Fred ducked for cover, knocking over everything in his path, including the oxygen tank, which clanged like a clarion bell.

Wasabi went into combat mode, his plasma blades activating as he waved his arms around. He and Fred had only just returned to the Manor after a rather bumpy ride on Fred's back, before Heathcliff had caught up to them with one of the family's many cars. He let out a sound that sounded half scream, half wail as he flailed around.

"Turn those off before you hurt someone!" GoGo yelled, ducking to avoid the frantic man's waving arms. She shot out a leg, sending Wasabi to his back, the sushi chef landing with a bit of a whump as the air was knocked out of him.

Baymax moved closer to Hiro's side, concern somehow showing on his minimalistic face. "I detect an elevation in blood pressure," he announced. "Also, the increase of nociceptors, indicating Hiro is in intense pain."

Honey righted the oxygen tank, checking to make sure everything was still attached while Fred peered up from his seat on the floor. "I wish I knew what was going on," she said, trying not to tear up. Despite having a fairly positive attitude, she was finding it hard to stay cheerful.

Hiro clenched his teeth, groaning as his fists clenched inside his suit. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he whispered. Another growl of pain filled his lips, fogging up the oxygen mask as the tears leaked from his eyes.

The door opened and Heathcliff entered the room. "Pardon me, sir," he said, address Fred, "But there is someone at the door."

Fred wormed his way to his feet, confusion written all over his face. "Who?" He shook his head, glancing at his companions. "Uh, hey, guys, guess I'd better go see what's up."

Not wanting to leave Hiro's side, Honey nodded. "Okay. Don't take long."

"I'm going with you," GoGo announced. "Just in case."

Heathcliff looked as non-committal as ever. "Might I suggest removing the suit before greeting your guest, sir?"

Fred twisted around, realizing he was still wearing his gear. He quickly climbed out with a sheepish shrug. "Right. Forgot about that." He and GoGo followed the butler out of the room.

Wasabi finally caught his breath again and was about to cuss GoGo out for flipping him when he realized she was no longer in the room. "Hey, what's going on?"


	4. The Visitors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter already? Yes, already. I'm a bit head so figured why not? But don't expect to get a new chapter every day!

Fred and GoGo followed Heathcliff down through the main part of the massive Manor. The butler's footsteps tapped lightly on the tiled floors as he walked with perfect posture. Fred's more leisurely pace made GoGo cringe, but that was Fred. She just wanted to get this done and get back to Hiro.

"This way," Heathcliff called as he turned into a small receiving room. "The gentleman and his companion are in here."

Fred strolled through the door, then stopped in confusion. "Who... are...you?"

GoGo tried crowding in behind him and ended up pushing him out of the way. "Let me in, Fred!" She still wore her suit, though her skates and helmet had been left behind for the same reason Fred's suit had been. She'd kept her flying discs, just in case.

The man in the room turned around, his long, brown coat almost swirling with the motion. His mop of unkempt hair almost matched Hiro's, only it wasn't as long, and was brown instead of black. And the man was wearing glasses. He had his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Then the man's companion turned around. She was a blonde woman wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She was actually pretty hot, Fred decided, but he was sure he didn't know either of them. Were they friends of his dad?

The man seemed to remember himself and pulled his hands out of his pockets as he moved forward to shake Fred's hand. "Hello. I'm the Doctor."

"Wow," Fred said, not sure what else to say. Had he heard about someone like this before? He wasn't sure.

GoGo pushed forward. "Doctor of what?"

"Just the Doctor," the Doctor said, smiling. "And this is my companion, Rose Tyler."

The girl waved. "Hello."

She can't be much older than we are, GoGo thought to herself as she stared. These guys were way too casual. And Fred seemed a bit out of it, probably ogling about how these two resembled characters from his comic books. "What do you want?" She didn't have time to be polite. After all, Hiro needed them.

The man fumbled a bit, taking off his glasses. "Oh, sorry about that. I tried to explain it to your butler but he insisted he bring the man of the house." He glanced at Fred, who still seemed a bit awestruck. "I'm looking for something. Well," he scratched at the back of his head, "more like someone."

GoGo's eyes narrowed. "Who and what for?"

The Doctor made a funny sort of noise as he seemed to debate on what to tell her. "Well, you see, we've been trying to track down a specific person. They'd likely be in a lot of pain. We picked up the readings on our scanner." He glanced at Rose. "They do have scanners like that, don't they?"

Rose shrugged. "How should I know? I'm not a science geek."

Hand going to her hip. GoGo blew a bubble, popping the gum loudly. "What difference does it make?"

Eyebrows up, the Doctor wavered. "Well... let's just say it's a sort of side effect of recent events. We know there are two in the area with this problem, one stronger than the other. We simply went for the stronger of the two."

GoGo remained unimpressed. "And what are you going to do when you find this person?"

The Doctor rocked back on his heels a bit, not out of fear or anything. Perhaps it was out of habit. "Well, that depends. What I generally do is try to help."

Fred tapped on GoGo's yellow suit. "Dude, maybe he can help Hiro. He did say he was a doctor. And though I'd trust Baymax with my life, maybe he could use a little help." He turned to the two guests. "By the way, I'm totally digging your accents. Are you from England?"

Another pink bubble popped loudly. Looking at Fred's face, however, was GoGo's undoing. It showed all the fear and concern she felt but didn't want to show. Well, that and his obvious interest in their guests' nationalities. "Okay," she nodded, before either of the newcomers could answer Fred's question. "We'll see what kind of help you can offer." She glanced at Heathcliff, who was still waiting patiently at the door. "You check for weapons?"

The butler raised one brow slightly, then retrieved a thin, metallic cylinder from his pocket. "The man was carrying this." He held out the strange device that sort of looked like some kind of wand.

"Oi! Be careful with that," the Doctor protested. "That's a highly sophisticated device, that is. I'm going to need that if I'm going to help your friend."

At a nod from GoGo, Heathcliff returned the device to the Doctor. "Call me if you need anything, sir," he said, then turned on his heels and left the room.

Before Fred could bring up anything else, GoGo moved up close to the Doctor, almost into his face, though she had to stand on her toes to see him eye to eye. "You promise you won't do anything to hurt Hiro? And do you also promise to keep secret anything you might see once we take you back to him?"

The Doctor looked a bit surprised, but seeing the intensity behind her eyes, he nodded. "Mum's the word. Right, Rose?" He turned to glance at his companion.

"Mum," Rose agreed. "Right. Not a word."

GoGo's shoulders relaxed. "Okay then. Follow me." She sauntered out of the room, Fred gaping behind her.

.............................

Honey Lemon checked her watch for the umpteenth time. "They've been gone a long time," she worried. In reality, only about ten minutes had passed. "Do you think something happened?"

Wasabi rolled his eyes as he finished removing his gear, placing it in precise order. "It's probably someone looking for Fred's dad, or maybe a salesman." Though he doubted Heathcliff would have called Fred away for a salesman. "And don't forget, it is a big house."

"I wish GoGo'd taken her helmet with her," Honey continued. "She could have at least told us what's going on."

Hiro had quieted over the last few minutes, but his vitals were far from stable. Honey rather thought Baymax was running out of ideas.

The door finally opened and Fred shuffled into the room, causing Honey to sigh in relief. She drew in her breath, however, when two strangers followed him in, GoGo bringing up the rear.

The Doctor nodded as he entered the room, like he'd been listening to some kind of update or something. The moment he was fully inside though, his eyes lit up. "Well now," he exclaimed, "that's a lot of tech for a couple of college-age individuals, now isn't it?"

The blond woman, who followed him, gave a low exclamation of surprise. "Not alien, is it?"

Her male companion shook his head. "Nah, but still pretty impressive. You make all this yourselves?"

"This way," GoGo called, bringing the man's attention back to the present. She skirted Wasabi as she moved to Hiro's bed. "This is Hiro, and he's the one who made most of this stuff."

Baymax looked up from his attentions and turned to blink at the newcomers. "Hello. I am Baymax," he began, but was interrupted when the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began flicking through the settings.

"Now that's just amazing," the Doctor gushed. "You see that?" He smiled at Rose as he pointed towards Baymax. "Artificial Intelligence. And nicely coded too." He looked closer, lowering his glasses just a bit to peer over them. He was about to scan the robot with his screwdriver when GoGo gave an impatient grunt.

Somewhat abashed, the Doctor remembered his manners. "Sorry about that. I'm the Doctor, and this is my companion, Rose Tyler. We're here to help."

Baymax seemed to consider the Doctor for a moment, possibly looking puzzled as he eyed the tall man from top to bottom. "You are a doctor?" He tilted his round head to one side, making him look like he was leaning.

"Oh, well," the Doctor hedged, letting out a bit of a grunt when Rose elbowed him in the ribs. "Yeah, you could say that."

Baymax blinked at the brown clad man. "Can you help Hiro? My programming and databases seem inadequate for the task."

Sniffing, the Doctor turned to Hiro. He adjusted something else on his device, making it hum while the light on the end lit up. He waved it over the sleeping youth, frowning a bit. "Hmm," he mused, looking at the device again. "Just as I thought. Well, mostly. But we can fix that in a jiffy, at least for the moment."

Before anyone had a chance to ask what he meant, the Doctor was tinkering with his screwdriver again. "Cover your ears," he warned moments before pressing a button on the side.

A high-pitched sound filled the air, making everyone wince, except for Baymax and the Doctor. It lasted less than five seconds, but was more than long enough to make the Big Heroes and Rose cringe, reverting to fetal position, in some cases.

"What was that?" Honey Lemon asked as she uncovered her ears.

Baymax blinked, moving to stand straight, then tilted his head to one side.

"Super sonic wavelength," the Doctor answered as he helped GoGo back to her feet. "Needed to sever the connection."

Perking up, Baymax shuffled back to Hiro's side. "Hiro's vital signs are improving," he reported, his tone more than conveying the good news. "Neurotransmitter levels are stabilizing."

Wasabi's jaw dropped. "All that from a high-pitched noise? What exactly did you do?"

The Doctor shrugged, taking off his glasses and wiping them on his jacket. "Like I said, severing the connection. Your friend, for whatever reason, was psychically linked to an unknown entity. I say unknown because I haven't figured out what it is just yet, but I will."

Turning back to the Doctor, Baymax managed to give a quizzical look. "I did not detect any activity consistent with your statement."

Looking those gathered, the Doctor rubbed at the back of his neck. "Well, the thing is most people can't detect that kind of low level activity. But it's blocked for now. Or at least reversed. That's what I did with the wavelength I played just a moment ago. Still begs to question, though, why this boy?" He put the glasses back on, pressing one hand thoughtfully to his chin.

Finally recovering from the sonic burst, Rose moved closer to the strange robot. "He looks like a giant marshmallow."

"And he gives the best hugs," Fred chimed in.

Baymax raised a hand in welcome. "Hello, Rose Tyler. According to my scan, you seem to be in excellent health."

Rose made a funny face. "Okay. So, what are you? Some kind of medical diagnostics tool or something?"

"I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion. Primarily, Hiro is my patient, though I will help any in need of medical attention."

"All right, then," Rose responded. "We can work with that, right Doctor?"

The Doctor, meanwhile, had changed settings on his screwdriver once more, and was waving it over Hiro's body again. "This is absolutely impossible," he commented. "But that must be why."

"Why what?" GoGo asked impatiently as she smacked her gum. Even though she'd tried to explain what was going on while bringing him back, he'd given little answers. At least none that made any sense.

The Doctor shook his head. "I don't know how this happened, but somehow, something's managed to alter this boy's genetic structure."

Baymax held up a hand. "Not possible. I have scanned Hiro extensively and have not detected any change in his genetic structure."

Moving to peer up into Baymax's receptors, the Doctor fiddled with his screwdriver once more. "That's because your sensors aren't at their maximum."

The robot blinked in confusion. "Hiro optimized my sensor. How can it not be at its maximum?"

The screwdriver hummed again as the light came on and the Doctor pointed the device at Baymax's face. The robot seemed to take a step back without moving. He blinked a few times, almost experimentally, then turned back to his patient. "Scanning now." After a slight pause, he blinked again. "You are correct, Doctor. Something has changed in Hiro's genetic structure."

Wasabi moved in. "What exactly did you do to Baymax?" he demanded, hands on his hips.

The Time Lord looked taken aback for a moment. "I simply fine-tuned his sensors so he could detect things on a more atomic level."

"It is all right," Baymax defended. "My sensor appears to have become more optimized. This will make me a better healthcare companion."

At that moment, Hiro groaned, moving one hand to his head. "Ugh, I have the worst headache," he moaned as he opened his eyes.

Fred jumped up and down. "You're awake! Man, I'm so glad!"

Hiro moved to look at his friends, feeling the unfamiliar pressure of the oxygen mask against his face. "What happened? Everything thing feels kind of hazy."

"You might want to stay put for now," the Doctor advised as he stepped aside so the others could see him.

The boy blinked up at the man in the glasses. "Who are you?"

Fred jumped forward to offer introductions. "Hiro, this is the Doctor. He helped Baymax bring you back to life. Well, at least figuratively," he amended at the sharp glares from his friends.

"Don't you remember?" Honey asked as the Doctor gave a little wave. "We were investigating the sixth crater when you suddenly started complaining about some noise none of us could hear. Then you started crying out in pain. That's when we had Baymax bring you back to the Manor. Somewhere during the flight, you passed out."

Hiro frowned as he tried to remember. "Yeah, there was this really high-pitched noise. Felt like it was stabbing right through my ears, into my brain." His pulse quickened just a bit as he recalled the event.

"Easy now," the Doctor warned. "Don't want to reopen the connection. But you say you heard something no one else could hear?"

Hiro nodded slightly. "Yeah. I mean, I remember asking but then the pain became so intense I must've blacked out or something." He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to remember more. "It's not the first time I've heard that today," he added.

Baymax leaned forward. "This is the first time I have been made aware of this," he said. "Why did you not tell me before?"

Turning to face his robotic friend, Hiro gave a chagrined smile. "It happened right before you activated. It's why I fell out of my chair, actually. Then the earthquake happened and I totally forgot about it until now."

The Doctor rubbed at his chin. "You say you heard it earlier, before the earlier quakes? Did another quake happen the second time?"

"I don't know," Hiro said, shaking his head. He winced a bit at the motion.

Honey put out a tentative hand. "There was another," she offered. "I saw it as we were flying away. I admit, I thought it odd at the time, but then we were all so worried about Hiro that I didn't think about it until now." She bit her lip.

"I also detected the earthquake," Baymax confirmed. "It occurred just before Hiro lost all consciousness."

Hiro almost bolted upright. "I did what!?"

Baymax pressed the boy back down. "Please remain still," he requested. "Your blood sugar levels are still low."

"Maybe this will help?" Rose offered, holding out a chocolate bar. "Never now when you might need one." She gave a shrug when the Doctor looked her way. "It's not fish n' chips, but hopefully will do."

The Doctor and Baymax seemed to nod in unison. "Chocolate might not be a bad idea," the Time Lord said. "Lots of nutrients. Nothing like a banana, but not bad."

"A banana would be an excellent source of nutrients," Baymax agreed. But he took the chocolate bar from Rose and handed it to Hiro after he opened it.

Hiro settled back with a huff. "You know this really sucks, right?" But he removed the oxygen mask and bit into the chocolate. It wasn't just any average chocolate. It was English chocolate, which tasted ten times better than the alternative. He let it melt on his tongue, feeling better for it.

"It does suck," the Doctor nodded. "Because I'm not really sure what caused all this to begin with. But I'm sure it all has to be connected somehow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why yes, yes that is the Doctor, and yes, I love the 10th Doctor. They should totally have shown more of them in the series, but I understand why they didn't. So, I must add them where I can. But I think it works out nicely, don't you?


	5. Patient

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here be another chapter for ya'll. I hope you like it. And please don't be shy and let me know what you think! I have much more in store for our intrepid heroes and it's not all pretty.

Far enough outside the city limits of San Fransokyo that no one really noticed, another crater lay with melted slag inside. And inside that crater, a man in dark clothes nodded to himself in satisfaction. Things were going according to plan. Mostly. He hadn't expected the projectiles to cause the earthquakes, but it was a happy bonus.

"Over there," he directed as several others rushed to extract the metal inside. It was unfortunate that so many had fallen in the City, but he could bide his time and go back for the metal deposits there. Maybe after nightfall, though some of them might be more difficult to approach now, what with the seismologists cornering off the areas. It wasn't insurmountable, though.

Plasma guns hissed as the metal was cut into fragments for easy transportation. This metal was going to make their next goals happen that much easier. After all, who couldn't use a good chunk of space rock?

It was a very happy event that had led to the discovery of the asteroid floating above the planet. Of course, it was a bit inconvenient that the debris seemed more bent on landing at will, and along the east coast at that. It would have been nice if the whole darn thing had come down all at once, but it was just as well. A space rock of that size would have probably caused another ice age. And they'd only hit a corner of it.

It didn't take more than an hour for the site to be cleared of all the slag. "Okay," the man nodded, his hard hat sliding a bit over his greased hair. "Let's head to the next one."

.............................

Once the novelty of the strangers had worn off, Wasabi and GoGo took it upon themselves to show the Doctor and his companion their gear. Both had seemed impressed with the craftsmanship, especially since it had all pretty much been designed by Hiro. The boy blushed from his cot, where Baymax continued to fuss over him.

Fred had asked Heathcliff to whip up something for everyone from the kitchen and they all munched on turkey sandwiches and chips while the Doctor poked around. Baymax had forbidden any more questions addressed to Hiro, at least until his vitals had further stabilized.

Honey Lemon felt more than glad that she'd decided to nab samples of the strange metal they'd found in the craters. Once things had settled down a bit, and Hiro had dozed off again, she'd pulled out the samples for something to do.

The Doctor had looked at the metal with a critical eye, and then became excited. "Do you have any idea what you've got there? Just looking at it, if you were to use this for all your tools," he pointed to indicate their gear, "you could build something at least ten times more durable than your current design, and still be light enough to not weigh you down. This stuff, this space rock, is better than any alloy known to man."

With that declaration, GoGo volunteered herself, Wasabi, and Fred, to go retrieve more of the precious metal. It went without saying, but having more durable armor would be a definite plus. And if they could get enough to have for backup, that made it even better. They left it up to Honey Lemon to figure out how to use it.

Now in her element, the Latino chemist increased the flame of her Bunsen burner. "This is so exciting," she commented as she watched the metal begin to melt around the edges. "Who knew this stuff came from outer space. What did you call it again?"

The Doctor poked at her chemistry set, silently shaking his head. So far, he'd managed to scrape by with the excuse that he was a science enthusiast, much like Fred. But he knew it was only a matter of time before Baymax let the cat out of the bag, metaphorically speaking. He glanced over at the robot, now sitting on a stool next to the sleeping boy.

"Faithful companion, that," the Doctor said with a nod towards the white giant.

Honey looked up from her tinkering. If she had her way, she'd understand all the properties of this metal before the others returned. A fond smile lifted her lips. "Hiro really adores Baymax. His brother made him, and he inherited him after the fire."

Removing his glasses, the Doctor seemed surprised at that declaration. "Fire?"

The chemist's face fell. "Yeah. Tadashi. He rushed into a burning building to save his, our, professor who was still inside. But none of us realized it was set to hide a theft. Tadashi died in the fire. That was about six or seven months ago." She pushed up her own glasses. "It's been hard, especially since Hiro was there when it happened."

"Poor chap," the Doctor agreed. His eyes went vague for a moment as he relived moments from his past.

Rose fidgeted in her chair. She'd also lost family, been there to see him die. She'd held him in her arms. She'd been only a little younger than she was now. But Hiro. "I'm sorry," she said. "I know what it's like to see someone you love die, practically in your arms."

Honey sniffled a little. "It's been a long process helping him, and the rest of us, overcome that," she admitted as she set down a pair of tongs she'd used to put more metal in the glass container. "Baymax has been there almost the entire time, though, and that helps."

The robot turned his head to look at them. "Hiro is my patient," he stated, then turned back to watch the sleeping boy. Everything had worn him out.

"Sounds like you've all been through a lot," Rose commented. "I mean, at such a young age-" she bit her lip, realizing most of them were about her age. "I mean, with all of this, being super heroes, it can't be easy."

Honey Lemon nodded as she readjusted the flame on her burner and added a few drops of acid to the mix. A cloud of purple smoke issued from the beaker and she hastily backed away. "It's not," she said, coughing and waving her hand to clear the air. "Our first time was really rough. We had to go up against our professor who had also stole Hiro's microbots."

The Doctor's eyes lit up once more. "Microbots? That's quite a feat for someone his age. Does he still have them?"

Shaking her head, Honey moved to another station, where she'd added different chemicals to the mix to see what it would do to the metal. "Most of them were lost in the battle, but he plans on remaking them, only better, he says."

"Used a neuro-cranial transmitter to control them?" the Doctor inquired, getting a nod in response. "Pretty ingenious if you ask me. Something says this boy will go far."

Honey wavered a bit as she took a fleck of the metal and slid it under her microscope. "If we can figure out what keeps attacking him," she amended.

Baymax shuffled over. "Hiro has stabilized enough that I feel secure leaving him to sleep," he replied to Honey's unasked question. "I also would like to know what keeps causing these symptoms. That way I can accurately treat them as they occur."

Rose gave a sideways bob of the head at the Doctor, her eyes wry. "You heard him," she said. "What do you think's causing them? Can't be normal."

The Doctor shook his head. "It's not. And as I said before, there are a lot of factors. First is his altered genetic code," he ticked it off one finger. "Then there's the psychic connection with whatever it is. I'm willing to assume it's not human." He ticked off another finger, then sat upright. "Did I mention that he's actually not the only one to be affected by whatever this is?"

Baymax blinked, tilting his head while Honey Lemon shook her head. "I do not remember receiving this information. Do you know who?"

"We were trying to find one or the other," Rose broke in, sliding her chair closer to the group. "Right, Doctor?"

The Doctor ruffled his hair. "Right. As I told the others, we went for the strongest signal, which turned out to be Hiro. But there was another, weaker signal, which leads me to believe that whoever this other person is also has been somehow altered. Might not be a bad idea to look for them."

"I believe I may be of assistance," Baymax informed, one finger held up for emphasis. "With my scanners optimized, I should be able to detect this anomaly more accurately if I scan the entire city."

Rose looked impressed. "You can do that?" She'd seen how big the city was, and had run around it for half the day looking for the source of everything going on. It didn't help that the TARDIS had sort of crash landed either, otherwise transportation would have been so much easier. If it cooperated, which it didn't always do.

Baymax blinked. "Of course. With the fine tuning of my sensors, I should be able to easily detect where the second patient is located."

Rose almost leapt from her seat. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"I cannot, in good conscience, leave Hiro alone," Baymax admonished. "He is my patient."

Biting her lip, Honey looked back and forth between the Doctor and Baymax. She could offer to stay with her friend and let the Doctor take Baymax out for the scan, but she didn't know if Hiro would like that. They still knew too little about their new acquaintances for that anyway.

The Doctor slapped his thigh as he moved around the table. "Let's not make any hasty decisions. There's a reason we ended up on this doorstep and not another. The other signal was much weaker, and I can see that we're not quite trusted just yet." He glanced meaningfully around.

Honey sighed in relief, and she rather thought Baymax did the same. It was obvious that the Doctor was used to being some kind of figure of authority. And while finding the other afflicted person was important, her priorities remained with her team. "Thank you," she said, flipping her long hair back in its ponytail.

.............................

"This is so cool," Fred said as he slid down into the second crater. Thanks to the assistance of Heathcliff, they had more than enough equipment to get the job done. Sure, it had taken several hours to get everything set and sorted, but they were actually doing something, which was better than doing nothing.

The school mascot strained under a piece of metal, until GoGo came up and helped him by taking the other side. "Man," he exclaimed, "with this kind of work, who needs exercise?"

And it was true. Despite Wasabi's attempts to break the chunks up smaller, they'd all agreed they needed to get as much of the metal as they could as quickly as possible. And that meant larger chunks.

Wasabi wiped some sweat from underneath his visor. He'd geared back up for this mission. It was easier to think of it as a mission. After all, safety first.

GoGo had opted to remain in most of her gear as well. Though she'd left the skates back home, she'd kept her flying discs handy, just in case. It was always possible someone else would discover this cache and decide to use it as well, not that she could think of anyone off the top of her head that would do that, but anything was possible. Professor Callaghan had proved that.

"Heave!" The dark-haired girl ordered as Fred's end began to waver. With a last push, they managed to get their chunk of space rock over the side of the crater before they both flopped to the ground. "This would be so much easier with Baymax," she sighed.

Fred placed one hand over his face to shade out the setting sun. "Yeah, but then who'd keep an eye on Hiro while we're gone? I mean, the Doctor's cool and all, but we still don't really know much about him yet."

GoGo raised her head from the ground long enough to give him a look. "Then why did you agree to come out here and leave him with them in the first place, moron?"

"Hey," Fred retorted, "I'm not the one who told them to come on back and check things out."

Wasabi grunted as he rolled his chunk of rock up the slope. "That's enough of that," he admonished, panting. "Let's just try to focus on what we're doing. Daylight's not going to last much longer. And unless either of you have a team of friends who can help us get this done faster, I suggest we pack up what we've got and come back later. I'm beat."

Rolling her eyes, GoGo agreed. "There are plenty of craters. We can always come back for more." She glanced towards the loaded van, its wheels sagging a bit under the weight. "Come on, sissies. Woman up. Gotta get these last chunks in before we can leave." With that, she got back to her feet and began pushing the space rock towards the van.


	6. Awake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I"m going to post a few chapters to play "catch up" with what I've got posted on fanfiction.net. I hope you all enjoy!

Hiro couldn't help but feel comfortable for the first time in what felt like forever. He was warm. His headache had lessened significantly. And his belly was full, without being too full. That, and he felt a sense of contentment he hadn't felt in a while.

His world swam before him in hazy colors, more like abstract shapes than anything. At least it wasn't memories of tragic things this time, he mused. It was almost as if he had control over his own dreams this time, which was a nice change.

He thought about the first time he and Baymax had flown. That had been truly mind blowing. He'd been a bit scared of the idea, especially when Baymax seemed to start out awkwardly. But then his robotic friend had surprised him by showing off some serious flying skills, making him wonder if the robot hadn't done the initial splutters on purpose.

Despite that, it had still been amazing to fly over the water, making it spray up in waves who knew how tall. Then to fly over the San Fransokyo Bridge, and all over the city like Superman had been unlike anything else he'd experienced. It was amazing, even though he'd almost peed his pants a couple of times.

He smiled slightly in his sleep, rolling onto his side. Subconsciously, he could still feel the oxygen mask over his face, probably more of a precaution than necessity. Baymax did tend to worry. At least they'd helped him out of his gear before he'd fallen asleep, otherwise things would have been far less comfortable.

Hiro laughed a bit as he dreamed about his friends' first attempts to use their gear. As cool as it had been, it had also been really entertaining to watch them get used to the idea of what everything could do. Part of him was already thinking up ways to improve on the original designs.

Then his dream changed and he found he was no longer in control of it.

They were back on the island, in the control room of the facility there. He still couldn't quite remember what had alerted them to the presence of the masked man, but he turned as the giant hunk of cement came crashing towards them. Baymax managed to block it just in time, but most of his team went down on their knees from the impact.

Hiro was just about ready to get back on his feet when his ears began to buzz again. It wasn't quite the same, but it still hurt and he went to his knees, hands to his head as he cried out.

.............................

"Stop!" Rose called out, hearing Hiro's cry of pain.

The Doctor immediately stopped fiddling with the piece of slag, turning his sonic screwdriver off. On a whim, he'd decided to test out the properties of the metal. The setting he'd chosen had made the metal hum at a high frequency.

No more than a few seconds after the screwdriver's hum began to change, Hiro had curled back into fetal position, his hands over his ears, eyes still closed, as he cried out.

Baymax shuffled to the boy's side as quickly as he could. "Oh no," he intoned.

"Doctor!" Rose called out again, her voice frantic.

Taking a moment to understand what his companion meant, the Doctor's eyes lit up in comprehension. "Oh! Right!" He changed the setting on the device and sent off the same pulse he'd used earlier.

Without any real warning, Honey Lemon almost dropped to the floor as the high frequency wavelength hit her ears. She went to a crouch as she covered her ears against the sound, though it still seemed to vibrate through her brain like a jackhammer had gone off in her head.

"The connection has been severed," Baymax observed as he checked the boy's vitals. His shoulders seemed to sag in relief. "There does not appear to be as intense a reaction this time."

The Doctor let out his breath. "Won't be doing that again," he noted, eyeing the rock. "Seems like the metal is somehow connected to what's going on. Can't imagine why, though." He whipped out his glasses and peered closely at the space slag. "This is ordinary, everyday variety. It shouldn't be doing that. I need to get this back to the TARDIS for further analysis."

Honey cautiously got to her feet. "Tardis?" she asked warily. "Is that the name of your lab?"

The two time travelers exchanged glances. "Yeah, something like that," the Doctor finally responded. He scratched at the back of his neck, ruffling his already unruly hair. "Just hope no one else's found it yet."

"Um..." Honey looked uncomfortable, not sure what exactly he meant by that. She was spared having to ask by the return of the others.

Fred burst through the door and flopped down on the nearest chair. "I don't know about you guys, but I could use a nice dip in the hot tub." He groaned as he stretched overused muscles.

"We're going to need a wheelbarrow to get all that stuff in here," Wasabi added.

GoGo stretched as she came in behind them. "At least it's safely in the garage. Moving anything else can wait until later. I'm beat."

Baymax shuffled over. "Your mission was successful?"

Fred lulled back in his chair, making it squeak in protest. "You could say that, though I'm sure I'll be sore for like at least a week."

"I detect muscle fatigue in each of you," Baymax observed. "I suggest applying heat packs to the afflicted muscles. Also, consuming a high protein snack. A hot bath or shower is also advisable."

GoGo smacked her gum. "You heard him. I'm heading to the shower. And none of you guys had better try peeking in or you'll get some of this." She demonstrated a karate kick, followed by a few punches before sauntering out of the room.

"Feisty much?" Rose commented, then yawned. "Goodness."

"It is getting late," Baymax announced, scrutinizing the blonde. "I suggest everyone retire for the evening to rest."

The Doctor nodded, putting his hands in his pockets as he moved towards Rose. "Not a bad idea. Think we can borrow a few rooms?"

Fred stood from his chair. "No problem," he replied. "Mi casa es su casa." Honey Lemon had been working with him on his Spanish, especially after he'd mistaken those words for French. "I'll just ask Heathcliff to set up a few rooms." A few had already been set aside for the Big Heroes for whenever they needed them. He slipped out to ring the butler.

"I'm all for a snack," Wasabi announced and went off to find the kitchen.

Honey Lemon went back to her workstation. "I'm going to work a bit longer," she said. "If I can figure out the connection between this metal and Hiro, it would really make my day."

Fred popped back into the room. "Hey, we got a few guest rooms available for you guys, if you're ready," he called out. "Just follow me."

Rose shrugged and followed the energetic youth out, the Doctor joining her. Despite having a seemingly endless supply of energy, the Doctor did lag a bit more than usual. But considering how much they'd done that day, Rose wasn't surprised. But rest, on a real bed sounded so wonderful. Their last stop hadn't offered such accommodations.

.............................

Cass Hamada woke to white walls and pastel curtains around her bed. "What in the world?" she asked as she moved to sit up. An I.V. tugged at her arm as she moved and she paused to give a more detailed look around.

The bed she was in was raised, with railings on either side, and the sheets were super scratchy. Someone had changed her into a gown, and a few wires trailed off from underneath that, attached to a monitor.

Hearing movement, a doctor entered the room, clipboard in hand. "Ah, you're awake," she said, smiling down at the woman. "It's been a rather eventful day, hasn't it?"

Cass moved to sit up further in the reclining bed but fell back against the mattress, her head pounding. "What happened?"

The doctor flipped through the chart she was holding. "Do you remember? There was an earthquake. You must have been knocked unconscious before the excitement really began." She noted down some readings from the monitoring equipment.

"Hiro," Cass breathed, her eyes going wide. "What happened to Hiro?" If the earthquake had taken her out, what had it done to her nephew? He was the only one she had. If something had happened to him, she didn't know what she'd do.

The doctor shook her head. "We don't have anyone by that name registered," she said. "I can double-check, but I'm sure no one with that name's been admitted. Is he someone you know?"

Cass tried to calm herself. Surely someone would have recognized who he was if he'd been brought to the hospital. But if he wasn't there, that meant he could be anywhere. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, but he was only fourteen-years-old, for crying out loud! "He's my nephew," she replied. "I'm his legal guardian."

Scribbling away, the doctor nodded. "I can see if a police officer can swing by your place to check in on him, if you like. We're going to keep you here for at least another twenty-four hours, just to be safe."

The distraught aunt grasped at that opportunity. "Yes! Please! He might be at a friend's, but he always comes home around dinnertime. I just hope he's okay."

The doctor moved closer to the bed and put out a reassuring hand. "Don't worry, Ms. Hamada. We'll have someone sent over to check in on your nephew. At the very least, someone will leave a note. You should try to rest."

Cass nodded, her heart resting a bit easier with the promised help. Hiro probably was okay. She would just have to keep believing that.

.............................

Hiro woke without so much as a twitch. He just opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling above him. The lights were turned down low, as if saving energy, not that Fred had to worry about that, what with his family money and everything.

The boy let out half a sigh as he removed the unnecessary oxygen mask. How much time had really passed? It was hard to tell. He didn't have a watch on him, and there wasn't a clock anywhere in sight either. They'd have to remedy that, he decided.

He rolled to his side and peered out into the room. From his vantage, he could see Honey Lemon slumped over her workstation, asleep. Her glasses lay next to her on the table. Either it was really late or really early. But aside from her presence, he didn't see any of his other friends.

"Ah, you are awake," Baymax said from the foot of the cot. "How do you feel?"

Hiro rubbed at his eyes, then managed to sit up. "I feel like I've been in hyper sleep or something. Kept having really weird dreams, though. There was something... but I can't really remember what it was. Wonder if it's important or not."

The robot moved to the side of the bed, squeezing to sit on the edge, for a more comforting atmosphere. He'd seen Hiro's aunt do this a few times when the boy had felt ill. It seemed to help lift the boy's mood every time, even if he'd showed annoyance. "Are you in any pain?"

Sure Baymax would already knew, Hiro felt no need to hide it. "Yeah, a little," he admitted. "There's this buzzing feeling at the back of my head, but if I move too quickly, it kinda stabs behind my eyes. What's wrong with me, Baymax?"

The robot seemed to slump. "I do not know. The Doctor believes your condition is somehow linked with the recent earthquakes. We are still investigating. It would seem that the metal we found in the craters comes from an asteroid. Perhaps there is a foreign element involved that is causing your symptoms."

"You're guess is as good as mine, buddy," the boy said, patting the closest vinyl arm. He moved to slide around the robot and set his stockinged feet on the floor. "Ugh, my legs feel like spaghetti."

Baymax tilted his head quizzically. "Your legs do not look spaghetti."

Hiro shook his head tiredly. "It's just an expression." He stood, a bit wobbly on his feet.

"Ah, I see," Baymax said, also rising, just in case the boy needed a steadying hand. "Are you sure it is wise to walk around?"

Fumbling forward, Hiro almost ran into a chair. "Not really, but I hate feeling useless. Everyone else has probably been doing stuff while I've been out like a bear during hibernation. Can't say I like the feeling."

"You are not useless," Baymax stated, following behind him. He visibly relaxed when Hiro plopped down into a chair near the computer.

Hiro pulled up a program and began typing with an air of distraction. Despite that, his fingers practically flew over the keyboard. "Uh huh. Right. I've only been out of it for most of the day. I feel like I've let the team down."

Realizing the boy needed reassurances more than anything; Baymax wrapped his arms around Hiro, chair and all. "You have not let them down. They are all working hard to help understand what is happening. They do not blame you for what has happened."

"They may not, but I do," Hiro returned, still typing away. The screen flashed with images from all over the Internet. "If I had..." His fingers paused over the keyboard. "Maybe I could have..." He sank further down into the chair, his back bending to accommodate his bad posture.

Baymax shook his head, but didn't say anything as the boy rubbed against his arms. He simply adjusted his height to accommodate without ending the hug. He'd learned that when Hiro got into one of these moods, the best practice was to be patient. If the others had been awake, he would have called them over to refute the boy's claims, but they were still asleep. And he wasn't about to wake them, unless it was an emergency.

The images flashed on the screen, begging to be looked at. "You are researching the earthquakes?" Baymax inquired, looking up at the monitor.

"Yeah," Hiro sighed. "Figured there might be a pattern or something. I hacked the satellites for their feeds and had them relay the data back." Looking up at the screen, he suddenly sat upright. "Wait a minute." He pressed around Baymax's arms to type out a few commands.

"It's just like I thought, only instead of man-made, it's meteors." An interactive grid popped up on the screen, tracing the trajectory of the space fragments that had plummeted to the earth. "These all landed in the epicenters of the various earthquakes," Hiro pointed out.

He typed in a few more commands and the image rotated to show a birds' eye view. Each of the fragments lined up perfectly. And once he hit another command, the image changed again, showing the bits of space stuff going in reverse, until they reconnected with a larger asteroid floating above the earth. "And that's where they came from." He pointed at the screen, just in case his companion missed the image.

Baymax blinked at the image, tilting his head for a different view. "What is that?" He indicated an almost invisible ray of light headed towards the asteroid on screen.

Hiro leaned forward to get a better look. "A shooting star?" He began tapping frantically again, using the computer's touch screen function to enlarge the area. A few more taps brought the area into better focus. "What the-?"

Baymax looked down at Hiro as he looked up to exchange incredulous looks. "It appears to be a missile," he said, confirming Hiro's fears. But he moved back a little so the boy could work more efficiently.

With a few more commands, Hiro pulled up another screen, fighting against strings of code as he worked. Hacking was not without benefits, but sometimes one had to stay a step ahead of whatever watchdog program might be installed. And in this case, it was something militarial. If he wasn't careful, he'd get caught.

The two watched as the missile went in reverse, like rewinding a movie. "Hah!" Hiro all but jumped out of his chair. "There! That's where it came from!"

He zoomed in on the satellite image, getting more excited with each enhancement. A couple seconds later, the action stopped, giving them both a clear view of mountainous terrain. And if they both squinted, they could see the launcher that had sent the missile up into the heavens. But there didn't seem to be much else.

Hiro scratched his head in confusion. "Huh? With something that size, you'd think there'd at least be something like, I don't know, a military base or something. But the area looks deserted. I don't get."

"Perhaps if you were to go back further, you might discover the owner of the device used," Baymax suggested, but Hiro shook his head.

Slumping back into the chair, the boy let out a sigh. "I already tried. Something's blocking the footage. That, or someone somehow managed to erase it. I don't know, buddy. I have a bad feeling about this."


	7. Omelettes

"Sir!"

Alexander Thomas walked over at the call from one of his underlings. "What is it?" He asked, slicking back his dark hair. After supervising more retrieval operations, his patience was beginning to run thin. The last few had already been picked over. Albeit, they were closer to the city's limits, but it was still disconcerting. He'd had to call off further activity when lights had begun to converge on their location.

The man in camouflage fatigues sat up straighter at the sharp tone of his superior. "We've had a breach." He typed away at his workstation keyboard, trying to back trace the source of the problem.

"Can you track them?"

Hunching defensively, the man continued to peck at the keyboard. "I'm trying, sir, but whoever has gotten into our system knows what they're doing. They're using some kind of scrambler."

Thomas slammed a fist against the desk. "Stop them. I don't care what you have to do. No one must find out what we're up to. You understand?"

The man quailed under his gaze, nodding as he shook under the steely eyes.

.............................

Hiro cussed.

"I do not believe your aunt would approve of such language," Baymax said, moving back into Hiro's peripheral view.

"Then don't tell her," Hiro replied, furiously typing. He cussed again. "Lost it. I was so close! So close! Stupid empty brain! If Tadashi were here, he'd have no trouble getting back in."

Baymax seemed to brace himself for the possible emotional onslaught that usually occurred when Hiro's brother's name came out. But it didn't come. Instead, the boy slumped further down into his chair in defeat.

"Hiro?"

Hiro looked up, turning in his chair as Honey Lemon came over. Her hair was a bit unkempt from sleeping, but the concern on her face was no less evident. Seeing her expression, his slipped even further into a frown. "Sorry. Did I wake you?"

Honey waved her hands to ward off the idea. "It's fine. I'm just glad to see you up and about again."

The chair spun as Hiro pushed away from the desk. "Yeah, well, it's not like I've done anything really helpful."

"On the contrary," Baymax objected. "You have done many useful things. This, for example." His stomach lit up while the images from Hiro's computer projected onto it from inside.

Hiro straightened slowly. "Hey, when did you record all that? I thought for sure I'd lost all the data."

Honey's eyes widened as she watched the footage. "Hiro, do you know what this means? Nothing that has happened was by chance!" She practically danced as she hugged Baymax around the middle, causing the robot to stop his projection show. "Someone's behind all this."

"Whoop-de-do," Hiro said, spinning a finger in the air. "What good does that do us if we can't tell who it is? It doesn't stop it from happening. We don't even know why they're doing it!"

Hiro's stomach chose that moment to growl loudly. The boy stopped, looking down with a mix of embarrassment and resignation. "Even my stomach is working against me!"

Honey put one hand to her forehead, fingers pressing against her glasses. "Oh, Hiro. Come now. Maybe you'll feel better after you've had something to eat." She reached out a hand to help him stand.

Instead of taking the offered support, Hiro crossed his arms. "I'm not hungry." His stomach growled again.

Baymax gave Honey a sideways glance. "Though your blood sugar levels are within normal parameters, I would feel better if you would attempt to eat something."

Hiro shot his eyebrows up at that one. Over the course of the past few months, the robot had tried to sound more and more human, using more expressions. He was an evolving piece of tech, after all.

Hiro rubbed one hand over his face, letting it slide back to push the hair away from his eyes. "Fine. If I eat something, will you just leave me alone?"

Baymax blinked several times in slow succession. "Is that what you want? To be left alone? Will that help your pubescent mood swings?"

Hiro stopped short, his mouth hanging open. "I..." He leaned back as if to reevaluate what had just happened. "No. I mean- I don't know what I mean. I just..." He flopped back against the cushioned backing. "I'm just frustrated, okay?"

Honey bent down and gave him a rather awkward looking hug. "It's okay, Hiro." Before he could protest, however, she'd swept him up onto his feet and began escorting him towards the door. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving!"

.............................

Fred stared at the refrigerator light like a moth drawn to the flame. Blinking slowly, he reached up one finger to tap the bulb, his jaw hanging slack.

"Boo!"

Hearing the noise, the school mascot jumped almost three feet into the air. Or he would have if his head hadn't been inside the fridge as he peered at the bulb, half turned so that his back faced the shelves.

The sound of metal and glass clashing made Honey Lemon wince but GoGo laughed as Fred emerged from the large cooler rubbing his head. "And that's what you get for sleep walking," the dark-haired student smirked as she leaned up against the counter.

Fred pouted, his lips poking out almost as much as his nose did. "That wasn't funny, GoGo."

GoGo slapped her thigh. "You're right. It was hilarious!" She bent over with mirth, her whole body shaking.

Honey gave a pained smile as she looked towards Fred, who now sported a red welt on his forehead from over-correcting and hitting into the fridge's door. "Maybe you should get some ice for that."

From behind her, Hiro gave a rather awkward wave. "Uh, hey, Fred. Sorry about that." He half ducked behind Honey once more, not sure how the older guy would take his little outburst.

Still feeling a bit down, he'd allowed Honey to drag him towards the kitchen, knowing no one would mind if they raided the cupboards. He hadn't expected to run into GoGo on the way. And then, when he'd seen Fred in such a precarious position, he couldn't resist the childish urge to do something stupid.

He peered out once more, teeth showing through his stretched lips as he waited to see what Fred might do. He wasn't expecting Fred to come practically running over and scoop him up in a big hug.

"Hiro!" Fred all but shook the boy as he danced around with delight. "You're awake! This is such good news! And you're up! I mean, we weren't sure and..." He trailed off to squeeze the boy extra tight.

Hiro's eyes bugged out. "Can't. Breathe," he managed to say, his head flopping a bit as his hair went all over the place.

"Oh!" Fred dropped him like a hot potato.

Thankfully, Hiro landed on his feet, though he hunched over for a moment to catch his breath. Breathing in with almost a gasp, he put one hand to his chest. "Oh man, that was so not cool."

Looking a bit abashed, Fred hung his head, but quickly turned around to give Hiro a noogie. "Hah! You have no idea how worried we all were!"

By this time, GoGo had managed to control her laughter, returning to a more upright position. "See? What did I tell you? No one's mad at you, idiot. So stop beating yourself up." She walked over and ruffled his hair. "Woman up, okay?"

Hiro looked a bit sheepish as he parted his hair so he could see. "Uh, yeah. Thanks."

Honey did a little happy dance, clapping her hands. "I'm so glad you're feeling better. Baymax will be relieved."

Still somewhat slouching, Hiro gave a toothy grin. "Yeah." His stomach growled, reminding them of why they'd come there in the first place.

"Oh, hey!" Fred jumped up. "So, I was dreaming that I was eating this ginormous sandwich. I mean, it had everything." He waved his arms out to demonstrate his point. "If you want, I can totally make one for you."

Hiro sucked in his lips a bit, trying to not cringe at the idea. They all knew Fred had some very interesting eating habits, including eating cereal from a bread bowl. "Uh, thanks, Fred." He edged away from the sci-fi geek. "I think I'd rather settle for something a little more, I don't know, breakfasty?"

"Say no more." Fred's eyebrows twitched as an almost maniacal grin spread across his face. "I know the perfect thing."

.............................

The Doctor glanced behind him once more. He rather thought they'd gotten out without a hitch, but he wasn't sure. It never paid to be sloppy. The butler, Heathcliff, seemed a non-interested party, but the Doctor knew better. Those kinds of people, proper British, didn't miss much. And then, of course, there was Baymax. But the robot might have been too preoccupied to notice their departure. Or so he hoped.

Rose gave him an impatient look as she rolled her eyes. "Come on," she urged, stopping so he could catch up. When the Doctor was distracted, it usually meant something was on his mind, but they did need to get a move on. She let out an overly exaggerated sigh as she stopped and turned to face him. "All right. What is it, then?"

Scratching at the back of his neck, the Doctor looked around. "Do you feel like we're being followed? Like that feeling at the back of your neck that says someone's watching?"

"No," Rose replied, giving him an odd smile. "What do you think it is?" His senses were usually more acute than hers, though it could just be that he was tired.

Still frowning, the Doctor moved to rejoin his companion. Seeing her look, though, he made himself relax. "Eh, it's probably nothing." He put his hands in his pockets. "Guess we'd better find the nearest meteor and get us a space rock."

Rose shook her head. "I'm not traipsing all over the city looking for a hunk of metal. Besides," and she gave him a smug smile, "We've already got one." She pulled one of Honey Lemon's unaltered samples from her pocket.

The Doctor's eyes lit up. "When did you get that, you lovely, lovely thing! Why, I'm so happy, I could kiss you!" He moved towards her, practically bouncing, but pulled back as he remembered himself.

"Um..." Rose bit her lip, trying to not act shy. She shifted her weight anyway.

"Right," the Doctor responded, pulling further back. He absently took the rock from her and started walking. "To the TARDIS."

Rose let out a wistful sigh and followed.

.............................

Abigail Callaghan grimaced. She'd had a terrible headache all day yesterday, feeling weak and exhausted. Her doctor had told her it might be like that, off and on. After all, she'd been stuck in hyper sleep for months, unintentionally at that. There were bound to be side effects.

She reached for a bottle of Advil, popping a pill. Hopefully it would at least dull the pain. She'd been tempted to take a sleeping pill but hadn't. Despite feeling exhausted, she also felt restless. She'd tossed and turned most of the night.

Every now and again, her ears would ring. It had happened mostly during the earthquakes. Alone in her apartment, she'd curled into a little ball until it'd stopped. Panic attacks, her doctor had told her, were a normal reaction to what she'd gone through. They'd prescribed pills for those too, though she'd never taken them.

Looking at the clock, Abigail sighed. Another sleepless night. She stumbled out of bed and headed to the kitchen. Sometimes a cup of tea helped. She steeped a cup, idly munching on dry cereal. It was the kind with marshmallows.

The tea steeped, she drank the brew and thought about her life. Krei had offered her a job, which she'd taken. Just not as a pilot. The idea made her chest tighten, making it hard to breath. In fact, when she had to go anywhere, it was usually via walking or trolley. She still couldn't set foot in a car without feeling it closing in on her.

Breakfast more or less eaten, she got dressed and headed out the door. She'd get to work early, but at least she wouldn't be alone.

.............................

Hiro patted his stomach in contentment. Fred's "super awesome" breakfast had actually turned out pretty decent. And Hiro had eaten with good appetite, despite earlier claims of not being hungry.

He stared at the remains of the odd omelet on his plate. He wasn't sure what all was in it. He'd lost track after the onions, pepperoni, and radishes. Salsa also helped, masking any of the odd ingredients from his taste buds.

"Not bad," GoGo approved, giving Fred a thumb's up. She'd had more than her fair share of the concoction, dolloping sour cream on top.

Fred seemed to glow with pleasure. Baymax had said Hiro needed a good mix of protein and carbs, so he'd done his best. The crumbled crackers had provided a lot of the carbs. And then there were the eggs, cheese and odd assortment of meat to take care of the rest. He'd grabbed the radishes by accident. But it had turned out well. He kind of wished Wasabi had been awake to join them but shrugged the thought aside. It was probably better that he hadn't.

"We should get back to work," Honey Lemon said. "We still don't know all the properties of the metal we found. And I'm sure someone should at least drop by the café to check on things."

Hiro frowned. Had they locked up before their crazy adventure had begun? He couldn't remember. "Guess that'd be me," he sighed, pushing away from the table.

GoGo grabbed his arm. "Hold up. You're not going anywhere without me or Baymax," she stated. "It's not like I can do much here. And you're definitely not going alone."

Hiro gave a guilty grin. "Right." He'd hoped to go alone, but that obviously wasn't going to happen.

"Come on," GoGo ordered, still holding on to Hiro. "Let's get Baymax."


	8. Paranoia

Rose yawned, then glanced at her watch. Out of habit, she'd changed it to match their current local time. Groaning, she sat upright. The bench seat in the TARDIS was not the most comfortable of beds, but she'd made do. With only a nap back at the Manor, and only a few more hours on the old cushions, she definitely didn't feel ready to face the day.

"Doctor?" She called out as she stretched, getting to her feet.

The Doctor was fiddling with something on the control panel. His lips pursed in though, he didn't hear her at first. "Hm?" he inquired when she called again.

Rose walked over, arms folded over her chest. "Sleep at all?"

"Nah," he answered as he continued to tinker with a knob. "Can't get this," he picked up a mallet and whacked it against the console, "stupid thing to cooperate." He winced as he smashed his fingers with the mallet instead of hitting his intended target.

Wincing at his pain, Rose edged a bit closer. "We should be getting back," she warned. "They're sure to miss us soon."

Injured fingers in his mouth, the Doctor looked up, peering over his glasses. "What's that?"

Rose's hands went to her hips. "You know," she hinted strongly, "the Manor? Those kid heroes? Their giant marshmallow robot?"

His eyes widened. "Right. The others. Can't have them getting all suspicious on us, now can we?" He gave the TARDIS another whack for good measure.

"Something wrong?" Rose looked closer, noticing the hunk of rock she'd pilfered sitting on top of a small metal platform. It looked much the same to her, but couldn't be sure.

Hands now in his pockets, the Doctor hedged. "Well, I wouldn't say so much as wrong as not right."

"Right," Rose mouthed, her brows together in consternation. "What's not right, then?"

The Doctor spread his arms in frustration. "This! It makes absolutely no sense. It's still just your average, run of the mill space rock, albeit far superior to anything they've got on this hunk of a planet."

Trying to hide her frustration, Rose chose a somber face. "So you've got nothing."

"Absolutely nothing. Not a bit of progress at all," he replied, grabbing up his coat, which he'd thrown on a railing earlier.

Rose moved to help him put the article of clothing on, giving his shoulders a comforting squeeze. "You'll get it," she assured him. "You always do." But before he could respond to that, she steered him to the door. "Come on, then. Let's go before we're missed."

..................................

The streets of San Fransokyo were pretty quiet for a Saturday, Hiro thought. But then he wasn't usually up this early, unless he had to be. However, after all the supposed sleep he'd gotten the day before, he felt more than a bit restless.

"Would you cut that out?" GoGo complained as Hiro glanced over his shoulder for the eleventh time. "No one's following us." The child genius seemed to get more paranoid the closer to the café they got. And it was getting on her nerves.

Baymax shuffled beside the teen, careful to keep an eye on him. Paranoia was a common symptom of PTSD. And while it didn't come as a surprise, he couldn't help but feel some concern for his patient.

At a glance from Hiro, the robot wisely chose not to mention anything about his vital signs. Sometimes doing so caused more harm than good. But there was more than enough to distract anyone from becoming upset about that.

Some of the streets they passed had been affected by the quakes. Others remained untouched. It was both eerie and disconcerting.

"Come on," GoGo called out as she indicated they should keep going. "We're only a few blocks away from your house."

They were just about to turn a corner when someone ran from around it.

"Oof!" Rose called out as she ran right into Baymax's vinyl body, bouncing back enough to disorient but not injure herself.

The Doctor managed to avoid running into anyone, but paused to help steady his companion. "Come on, Rose," he urged, not heeding what, or who, they'd stumbled upon. "We need to hurry before..." he trailed off at her look, realizing who they'd bumped into. "Oh."

GoGo popped her gum and glared. "'Oh' is right. What are you doing here? We all thought you were back at Fred's place."

"They left five hours ago," Baymax offered helpfully. "I detected them leaving."

Hiro sucked in his breath, waiting to see what the others might say. When they said nothing, he offered his thoughts. "Baymax is pretty observant."

The robot moved to scan Rose as she regained her composure. "I do not detect any injuries," he announced, though no one seemed to be paying attention.

"So?" GoGo continued to glare, smacking her gum for emphasis.

Rose brushed her hair back behind her shoulders before looking up. Realizing the Doctor wasn't going to answer, she took matters into her own hands. "We were investigating. Didn't come to much, though. And what about you lot?" It was her turn to glare.

Hiro glanced over his shoulder again. "My house," he answered with an air of distraction. Why did the back of his neck prickle like that?

The Doctor leaned to look in the direction Hiro was. "Something the matter?"

The boy didn't answer, just continued staring at the corner two streets down.

"Hiro is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder," Baymax stated. He started to name off symptoms but was hushed when the Doctor waved him to silence.

"Do you hear that?" His face went still, his eyes narrowing a bit as he squinted to better see from a distance.

Baymax tilted his head to scan more accurately around both males. "I detect ten males converging on this location," he announced.

Hiro leaned forwards a bit more for a better view, squinting to see further. He pressed his tongue against his teeth as he did. Almost out of sight, he saw two black clad men round the corner. They wore dark caps and looked less than friendly. One turned towards the small group, pointing. The other reached for something strapped to his hip.

"Run!" The Doctor yelled, heading back the way he'd come with Rose.

GoGo cursed, wishing she'd geared up before setting out. But she hadn't. It hadn't been practical at the time. But now? She ran.

Rose started after the Doctor, but realizing that Hiro and Baymax were lagging, she paused long enough for them to catch up. "Come on!"

"Baymax can't run without his armor," Hiro gasped as he tried to drag the 70-pound balloon behind him.

Rose grabbed the robot's other arm and the three charged after the others. The sound of boots thundered behind them, along with cries to stop.

When it was obviously that the small group wasn't going to stop, those men at the front of the group pulled out semi-automatic weapons and opened fire. GoGo winced as a bullet grazed her arm but kept running.

"Almost there!" the Doctor called out as he turned another corner. "This way!"

More bullets whizzed by as Hiro stumbled. "See!" he yelled. "I wasn't being paranoid!" He suddenly cried out in pain as a rock flew up and hit his leg just below his knee. He went down with a bit of a crash. The bullet that hit the stone flew off in another direction. Baymax helped him up.

By the time Rose and her group had caught up with the others, the Doctor had thrown open the doors of the odd-looking phone booth. "Get in! Get in!" He waved GoGo inside. Seeing Hiro stumble, he went back to help Rose with the robot and boy.

Once they were all inside, the Doctor slammed the door shut, sliding a bolt in place. "That should keep them out," he announced. He looked up, realizing the reactions his unexpected guests had upon entering his ship. He took a few steps away from the door, stuffing hands into his pockets. "Don't say it all at once, now."

"What the...?" GoGo exclaimed as she nursed her arm. "Is this some kind of secret bunker or something?"

Hiro leaned against Baymax as his jaw dropped.

"The interior capacity of this room far exceeds the dimensions of the outside," Baymax announced.

Rose snorted, trying really hard to not laugh. The expression on her companions' face was priceless. She couldn't hold it in long and it burst out with such force that she had to bend over for breath.

Hiro slid to the ground, wincing. "Ow." He rolled up his long shorts to reveal a nicely purpling bruise.

"Your injuries require my attention," Baymax said, scanning both Hiro and GoGo.

GoGo shoved her sleeve up, flinching as the fabric rubbed against the wound. "That's going to leave a mark," she commented as she looked at the graze. Thankfully, it didn't look too bad, only breaking the skin enough to bleed a bit, though it did rather look like someone had run a hot knife along the flesh."

With Baymax's help, her injury was soon cleaned, coated with an antibacterial spray, and covered with a field dressing.

"Who were those guys?" Rose asked once she'd regained control of her senses. "Not military, I hope."

The Doctor mused, staring into space. "Hard to say. Definitely not the standard type, I don't think. What I don't understand is why they attacked. And who exactly was their target? Did they go after us because we ran? Or were we the intended party?"

The sound of more bullets hitting the outside filled the silence, followed by pounding.

GoGo looked up from her bandage. "Won't their bullets turn this place into Swiss cheese?"

"Not likely," the Doctor replied. "The TARDIS has taken a much worse beating, right, Rose?"

The room shook as he spoke, sending Baymax and GoGo into the console. Hiro dropped to the floor.

"On second thought-" he dashed to the control panel, twisting knobs and dials, and then threw a switch. The central column began to pulsate as the inner workings moved up and down. The whole thing made a sort of whining sound that was almost like grinding.

After a few seconds, the floor stopped shaking as the noise stopped. "That should do it," the Doctor smiled.

"What did you do?" GoGo asked as she got back to her feet. She turned to help Baymax up but the robot had already regained his feet.

The robot turned his attention to Hiro, who remained on the ground, a bit stunned. "Your injury should be elevated, and ice applied to reduce the swelling," he told the injured boy.

"Where did you move us?" Rose asked, brushing off imaginary dust. "Not halfway around the world, I hope."

The Doctor waved that notion aside. "Nah. Not too far." He tapped a monitor sticking out from a bunch of wires. "Looks like we're in some kind of warehouse, though."

Meanwhile, Baymax requested Rose assist him in relocating Hiro to the bench seat along the inner railing. Once there, the boy winced as Baymax gently prodded the darkening flesh.

"No touching!" Hiro objected, trying to pull his leg out of reach. He didn't get far.

GoGo watched the examination, still cradling her arm. "Hey," she called out, "you got any ice in here?"

Hiro batted the robot's hands away. "I'm fine. You can stop now."

Baymax seemed to contemplate the boy. "You have a level three contusion," he informed him.

"Ya think?" Hiro winced again as he rolled his pant leg back down.

"An injury of this type requires rest, ice, compression, and elevation," Baymax continued.

Rose bit her lip, but when GoGo looked her way, she drew back a step. "I'm going to find some ice," she announced and turned to go through another door at the other end of the room.

GoGo blinked after the blonde's departure. "Where's she going?"

The Doctor came back around and leaned his back against the railing next to the bench seat. "To find the kitchen presumably. Might take her a while though. Tricky things, kitchens."

He didn't explain that comment, and when no further information seemed forthcoming, GoGo moved towards the bolted doors instead.

"Then I'm going to find some," she stated as she slid the bolt and opened the door. She'd taken no more than a few steps before hastily backing up. "What the-"

Hearing her tone, Baymax looked up from wrapping Hiro's leg. "Your heart rate has increased dramatically," he noted as he stared at the dark-haired girl.

GoGo turned back to face the Doctor. "What did you do?"

"Well," the Doctor drawled with a sideways tilt of his head, "I had to do something to keep this place from being blown up, now didn't I? So we moved."

Blinking, Baymax zoomed his lenses to see past GoGo. "We are inside the warehouse Professor Callaghan used to replicate Hiro's tiny robots," he announced.

"What?!" Hiro jumped to his feet. Before anyone could stop him, he stumbled towards the door to see for himself. His knees threatened to buckle as he stared out, leaning against the door's frame for support. "That's. Not. Possible."

The Doctor let out a sigh as he walked over to join them at the door, Baymax shuffling behind him. "Oh, it's completely possible," he corrected. "This is the TARDIS. It stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Basically, it's my spaceship."

GoGo's jaw dropped open as she stared at the brown-haired man. "You mean you're..." she couldn't bring herself to say it.

"An Alien?" the Doctor supplied. "Yep." He popped the P sound of the word as he rocked back on his heels, hands in his pockets.

Baymax blinked at the Time Lord. "I now understand," he said. "I had begun to wonder if there was something wrong with my sensors."

Hiro's eyes went wide. "What do you mean?" His fingers tightened against the door frame, making the knuckles white.

The robot pointed at the screen portion of his chest as a familiar human outline became visible. "This man has two hearts," he answered as two heart shapes appeared inside the image.

Before any more questions could be asked, however, Rose returned, carrying a small pouch of ice. She paused as she noted the tense atmosphere, then realized what must have happened. She cleared her throat, causing all four to turn her way. "Found some ice."

GoGo, the first to recover, stepped towards Rose. "Are you an alien too?"

"As human as they come," Rose quipped, holding out the ice. "And yeah, I know he's an alien. Found out right quick when we met. Doesn't make a difference to me."

An explosion sounded from outside. More of a sonic boom, it made the windows of the warehouse shake, a few even breaking.

Hiro slid to the floor, sweat beading up on his forehead. His breath came in short gasps as his eyes went wide, the pupils doubling in size.

Baymax moved to a crouch as he contemplated his patient. "Hiro?"

But the boy didn't respond, neither seeing or hearing him as he continued to hyperventilate.

"Hiro!" GoGo dropped down to his side, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him.

Meanwhile, the Doctor ran to the console and started madly flipping switches and turning dials. The inner column of the TARDIS whined, the inner workings moving in an almost pained manner. Lights flashed all over the control panel, little alarm bells sounding. "Get them back inside!" he yelled at Rose.

Not really sure what was going on, Rose felt the adrenaline kick in. If the Doctor was running around like mad man, whatever was going on wasn't good. "Get inside!" she yelled.

Baymax scooped Hiro up in his arms and GoGo followed him back towards the middle. Rose slammed the door behind them, relocking it for good measure.

Hiro cried out in agony as he was set down again. He clutched at his head, flopping forward to his stomach. From there, he curled up on his side, screaming.

"Doctor!" Rose called out in panic, more than expecting him to pull out his sonic and do something to make the boy's suffering stop.

The Doctor, however, ignored her calls. Instead, he grasped a lever with one hand, frantically jabbing at buttons with the other. "I'm a little busy," he admonished through grit teeth.

"Doctor," Baymax called, his eyes not leaving Hiro for a moment as he kept constant track of his vital signs. "Your assistance would be appreciated."

Something crackled and popped on the console and the Doctor hurried to fix it, letting go of the lever. He paused halfway, trying to decide which was more important as the lever began to move. "No! No! No!" he yelled. Then he saw GoGo. "You! Hold that lever steady! Don't let it move!"

Hearing the authority in his voice, GoGo didn't even question as she jumped to obey. She grabbed the lever and pulled to return it to the place the Doctor had set it. She let out a grunt of exertion as it fought her.

"Rose, hold this," the Doctor ordered, indicating another lever as fire broke out on another panel. His companion ran to assist as he picked up a fire extinguisher and sprayed foam on the unit.

Meanwhile, Hiro continued to cry out in pain, curled in fetal position. Baymax did what he could, which wasn't much. Finally, unable to come up with anything else that helped, he simply cradled the boy in his arms.

A loud groan came from the central column as GoGo tried to maintain her hold on the stubborn lever. Her fingers slipped, however, and the metal clanged as it snapped back. Then the lights went out.


	9. Asteroid

It had taken some doing, but Honey Lemon had made a breakthrough. She hoped, at least. And it had happened completely by accident.

Once the others had left, she'd headed back to her lab space. Then Fred had come along to ask something, or simply to just get in the way. She wasn't sure which. Instead of doing anything productive, however, he'd managed to accidentally knock her table, making chemicals spill all over her sample of space rock. The metal had almost immediately reverted to liquid form, without so much as an ounce of heat to help it.

Fred, of course, was so surprised that Honey wasn't mad that he'd almost collapsed on the cot. Instead, he'd tripped over the chair next to it, and landed on his face. "Ow."

Wasabi had come in at that exact moment, pausing at the unexpected scene of Honey bending over Fred while liquid metal ran down the worktable's surface. "What in the world?" His OCD kicked in big time and he almost pulled out his hair, but managed to calm himself before that happened. "What happened?"

With Honey's help, Fred got to his feet, rubbing at his nose. Thankfully, it wasn't bleeding, but it was definitely sore. "Thanks," he said, then looked at the mess he'd caused. "Oops."

Honey moved back to her workstation. Picking up a pipette, she tried to retrieve the metal from the tabletop, but couldn't. More than a little confused, she ran a gloved finger over the surface. Nothing happened. The metal stayed on the table, as solid as before the accident, only now it held more luster.

Still confused, but determined, the chemist spent the next couple of hours trying to replicate the exact chemical mix that had spilled on the rock. After cleaning up the rest of the mess, Fred and Wasabi sat down to relax, both dozing off as she worked.

"I've done it!" Honey Lemon cried out, causing both men to start from their stupor. She held up a sealed glass container with the liquid metal inside, grinning from ear to ear. That's when all hell broke loose.

A sonic boom filled the air, causing beakers and glass tubes to break. All three friends dived for cover behind the cot as chemicals splashed from broken containers. Steam hissed from melting plastic.

Honey dived for her gear, rapidly typing in a formula on her specialized bag's panel. She threw the orb it spat out at the mess and foam coated the work area, neutralizing the chemicals.

"Master Frederick," Heathcliff called as he opened the door. "There is something you should see."

Ignoring the resulting mess, the trio followed the butler to the backyard. Looking up, the remains of a massive explosion filtered down from the atmosphere.

"That doesn't look good," Fred commented as several chunks of whatever streamed through the sky. "Looks like an asteroid collided with something up there."

Wasabi stared, wide-eyed. "Someone should contact the others." Thoughts of horrific nature ran through his head, playing out the worst-case scenario.

Honey pulled out her phone and speed-dialed GoGo but got no answer. She bit her lip as it continued to ring. "GoGo's not picking up," she fidgeted.

"Try Hiro," Wasabi requested.

Honey dialed but shook her head. "No one's picking up." She got the same result trying the café's line.

Heathcliff cleared his throat. "Sir, your other guests are also missing," he informed Fred.

"Oh no," Honey whispered, slipping her phone back into her pocket.

......................................

Abigail had just settled at her desk when an overwhelming sense of panic filled her. She grasped the desk with white-knuckled fingers as the room spun. "No. No!" she whispered. "Not now. Not now."

She slid from her chair, jarring a bit as she hit the floor. From there, she curled up into a little ball under the desk.

.........................................

"Direct hit!"

Alexander Thomas allowed a rare smile to cross his lips. It was gone almost as quickly. "Track the fragments. We need every one of them," he ordered the tech.

Back at command, Mr. Thomas stared at the monitors as each crater was marked. The slight snafu from earlier had rankled his spirits, but their most recent achievement more than made up for it.

With first light, he'd sent out teams to retrieve the remaining slag from the craters, only to discover some had already been completely razed. He didn't know who had done it. The prints left in the now hardened mud left an interesting tale they were still trying to cipher. A robot of some sort had been involved, he was sure.

Then, when one of his recon teams had come across a bunch of kids, and a man they'd previously seen near one of the craters... well, two and two made four. It only confirmed matters when they ran like bats out of a dark cave. But then they'd gone and disappeared.

A few more operatives had ended up in the infirmary after that as Mr. Thomas took out his frustration on them. He didn't know who that man was, or who the kids with him were, but he was going to find out.

"Tracking meteors," one tech reported. "Spread is outside the city limits of San Fransokyo, mostly in the mountains."

Thomas nodded. That had been the plan. He couldn't risk having more civil servants poking around his activities. He turned to another tech. "What about the R&D department? Any progress?"

The tech shook his head. "Not yet, sir."

"Tell them to keep working on it," Thomas ordered. "I want those ready for testing tomorrow."

....................................

Emergency lights flickered inside the TARDIS, giving everything a red tint. GoGo had landed on her backside. Rose and the Doctor had managed to hold onto the console. Hiro and Baymax had slid towards the railing, the robot having turned to keep the boy from further harm.

The robot looked down at the boy, now asleep in his arms. Either the pain had been too much, or it had finally stopped. He wasn't sure which was the case, but felt relieved, either way. Initial scans told him that Hiro's vitals were at least more stable this time around, though his neurotransmitter levels were decidedly off. And thanks to his now optimized sensors, he could detect a buzzing of energy around him that he hadn't before.

"Doctor," Baymax inquired, looking up at the Time Lord. "Please assess the patient."

A bit shakily, the Doctor let go of the control panel and walked over, pulling out his screwdriver. While the TARDIS was important, Baymax was right in his thinking. They weren't in any immediate danger, as far as he could tell, so his priorities changed.

Flipping to the appropriate setting, the Time Lord ran the screwdriver above Hiro, then looked to see what readings he could get. When the device seemed to fritz out on him, he smacked it against his thigh and tried again. "Stupid thing," he muttered under his breath. "Hang on."

The Doctor strode back over to the control panel and jammed the sonic into a port on the side, near the monitor. The screen lit up with a string of strange symbols that not even Baymax could cipher. Typing commands into the keyboard, the symbols changed. "Now that is interesting," he said, brow furrowing.

Meanwhile, Rose moved to help GoGo to her feet. The engineer was only a little stunned, though her fingers showed strain from holding the lever back. She opened and closed her hands to try and relax the muscles. "What's interesting?"

The Doctor glanced back at Hiro, then at the display. "I don't think we're quite alone now," he stated. "At least not figuratively speaking."

"I do not detect any other life forms," Baymax said. He watched the Doctor, noting the man's pulse quickening. The grin on the man's face only confirmed what the robot though. For some reason, the Doctor was getting excited.

"This is marvelous!" the Doctor cried out, almost spinning as he moved to another, still functioning, panel. "It explains so much!"

GoGo watched his antics with alarm. "Explains what?" she asked. "What are you talking about? And what about Hiro? Did something break the connection again?"

Looking up, the Time Lord seemed almost distracted. "Hm? No. No, no. It's still there, strong as ever."

"Then do whatever it is you did last time and break it," GoGo demanded.

The Doctor shook his head. "I don't think I can this time," he confessed. "Connection's too strong now. And more defined."

Rose exchanged confused looks with GoGo. "You're not making sense," she admonished. "Why can't you just, I don't know, up the power level or something?"

"Won't work," came the reply as the Doctor continued to tinker with buttons and dials. "Previous connections with the lad were haphazard at best, like a baby taking its first few steps. Now, whatever it is has a better grasp of what it's doing. Might even be listening to what we're saying now, through Hiro."

Baymax seemed to contemplate this new information. "Would this account for the increase in energy around Hiro?"

"Exactly so," the Time Lord confirmed, an almost mad look in his eye. "Not sure what they're trying to do just yet, but I'll find out. I always do."

"What about the explosion?" GoGo pressed.

The Doctor looked over, taking in the whole room. "Don't you see? It's all connected, the whole kit n' caboodle. That sonic boom was caused by an explosion close to the atmosphere. An asteroid to be precise."

"Would it be possible to relate to a similar explosion?" Baymax asked as his chest lit up to show the data Hiro had found earlier. "Hiro discovered the source of the meteors that crashed into the San Fransokyo area."

Pulling out his glasses, the Doctor went over to stare at the data scrolling down Baymax's screen. "Now that is something." He pressed a finger against the vinyl as he traced the missile trajectory on the last image. "Someone's trying to shoot down some space rock. I wonder what for."

GoGo moved closer. "What do you mean trying?"

The Doctor removed his glasses and put them back in his pocket. "Well, more like succeeding," he amended. "If I'm not mistaken, that explosion we just had came from the same asteroid."

He went back to the monitor, typing in a few more commands, then pointed as a rough image of the satellite feed from Baymax's memory showed on screen. It overlapped with a more current one that simply outlined the space junk's continued orbit around the planet. "One and the same," he emphasized. "It was just over a different continent the first time, too far away to do much here."

Hiro still in his arms, Baymax waddled over to contemplate the screen. "I still do not understand," he admitted. "How does this affect Hiro?"

The Doctor grinned. "Let's find out." He dashed to the doors and, unbolting the lock, threw them open.

Instead of the warehouse, or even the streets of the city, the expanse of space greeted them. Small chunks of rock flew past, red with heat as they blazed by.

For once, GoGo couldn't find words as she stared through the open doors.

"A little help?" The Doctor asked Rose as he grabbed a long rope and tied it around his waist. "Don't let me float too far," he requested.

Baymax set Hiro down on the bench seat, coming to join them. "I do not feel this course of action is wise," he objected. "If we are indeed in space, as my sensors indicate, you will be unable to breathe. Death will be imminent."

Tightening the rope on one of the arching ribs of the control room, the Time Lord waved an errant hand. "Nah. As long as I'm not out there too long, it should be fine. There's a force field to help with that. And Rose won't let me drift too far, right, Rose?"

Rose shook her head as she rolled her eyes. "You know I'd never let that happen." Taking a hold of the rope, she nodded at the door. "Get on with it then. Off you go."

"Allonsy!" The Doctor called out as he made a running leap towards the door, seeming to dive as he left the interior of the TARDIS.

GoGo gasped as she ran to the door, stopping just before stepping out as the vista opened up before her. She saw the odd man floating outside as though just an average astronaut, albeit without a space suit.

The Doctor reached for a spinning fragment of rock, grabbing it with one hand. The momentum carried him further away, however, and the rope pulled.

Rose almost let go, as the rope seemed to take on a life of its own. "Pull!" she called out as she used her weight to try and reel the Doctor back in.

GoGo grabbed the section closest to her and pulled, bracing herself against the frame. But it wasn't until Baymax joined in the effort that they were able to bring the Doctor back inside.

Rose ran to close the doors as the Doctor shook himself. Goosebumps ran up and down his arms and he dropped the meteor on the metal floor, blowing on the reddened flesh of his palm. "Hot," he commented as the stone clattered to a stop, still glowing faintly red.

"Allow me to apply a cooling spray," Baymax offered, holding one finger ready to administer the medication.

Rose grabbed the Doctor's hand and held it steady so the robot could apply the medicine. "That was a little reckless," she admonished. "Look at you, all covered in gooseflesh."

Not to be put down, the Doctor shook like a dog wet from the bath as he flung his arms around. "Just need to get the blood pumping again," he said, looking like a kid at Christmas.

Baymax attempted to follow him around as he flailed his arms, hardly heeding the burn on his hand. After a few seconds of this, however, the robot gave up. Apparently the Time Lord did not either require or want further assistance.

The Doctor ran back to the console. He plucked up his sonic screwdriver from its slot and spun it in his hand like a baton. "Now to see what's what."

A little more carefully, he retrieved the rock and scanned it, looking to the monitor for more details. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" He practically danced as he ran back to Hiro and rescanned him. "The same! They're exactly the same!"

GoGo exchanged glances with Baymax, wondering just what the Doctor was talking about.


	10. No One Home

Fred stared. Either he was seeing things, or there was a lot more going on than any of them had imagines. "Is that a bullet hole?"

The small group was only a few blocks away from the café when Fred paused to check something out. With no contact from either GoGo or Hiro, the remaining three had hoofed it to Hiro's house.

Wasabi slowed to check on the irregularity Fred had found. "Looks like it," he confirmed, clenching gloved fists.

They'd all agreed to go in gear. Chances were good that something had happened to the others. They'd worn baggy clothes over their suits, to try and blend in, though Wasabi wasn't sure it was working all that well. They'd received a few stares on the way over.

Honey Lemon moved in to inspect the area Fred indicated. "I found a casing," she announced, picking up the metal fragment. Her heart skipped a beat when she came across a wrapper from Hiro's brand of gummy bears. It wasn't actual evidence, but it made her worry all the more. "Let's hurry to the café and check on things," she requested.

"Yeah," Fred echoed, moving away from the marks on the brickwork. "I don't know about you guys, but I got a bad feeling."

Wasabi glanced around. "Don't say that," he admonished. "Let's just get going and see what's going on." With those words, the three continued on to the café, each being more cautious than before.

It didn't take long to reach the store, despite a few pauses to make sure no one was paying too much attention to them. Stealth wasn't exactly their thing. But they made it, safe and sound. Wasabi tried the front door, which was locked. The windows were still intact, though, which was a good sign.

Honey went to check the side door, which led straight to the living area. It, too, was locked. "Let's check the garage," she said.

The garage door was closed, just as they'd left it. Opening it revealed nothing out of place, thankfully. But, despite that, tension didn't abate. They'd seen no sign of Hiro, GoGo, or Baymax.

"Not good," Wasabi intoned, running a hand over his dreads. "I don't know about you, but I think something happened and they never made it here. The question is what."

Honey bit her lip, wondering the same thing.

............................................

"What do you mean, they're the same?" GoGo asked as she watched the Doctor running back and forth inside the TARDIS. "And while you're at it, can you explain why we're in outer space?"

Grinning like the mad hatter, the Doctor held up the rock he'd retrieved from outside the odd spaceship. "This rock is emitting the same energy that Hiro is," he explained. "As for why we're in space, well, when the asteroid exploded, the TARDIS decided to go a bit wonky. She's always liked having her way. Must have thought we needed to be here for some reason."

GoGo ground her teeth. This man was so maddening. He answered every question, mostly, but in such a way as to make her go crazy. "She? You're not just saying that be to like most guys and their cars, are you?"

Rose shook her head at that one. "He's not. There really is something more to the TARDIS than just being a ship."

"Do you mean the TARDIS is an artificial intelligence?" Baymax inquired. He'd returned to where Hiro still lay, unconscious on the bench seat.

"Oh no," the Doctor replied. "Not at all. She's as alive as any living thing in the universe. There's nothing artificial about her."

"I see." Baymax tilted his head as if glancing at the floor. He wasn't sure he understood what the man meant, but it was worth contemplating. "How does this relate to Hiro's condition?"

Giving a thoughtful shrug, the Doctor went back to the controls and made a few adjustments. Then, he threw a lever, causing the central column to agitate once more. "Don't you see? If the energy is the same, then it means there is an entity out there that is somehow connecting the two. It's not the rock itself. That's just space junk, albeit good space junk. I'm sure anyone would love to get their hands on it. Great for many different applications."

Something clicked in GoGo's head. " It's obvious someone wanted to get their hands on it. All you have to do is look at what's happened," she pointed out. "So, what kind of applications?"

The TARDIS began to whine, though not with the same grindingly painful tone as it had before. This was more stable. The floor shook a bit, then settled as the central column returned to its stationary norm.

"Oh, all kinds," the Doctor replied, checking the readout on the monitor. "Construction. Weapons..."

GoGo put up a hand to stop him there. "Weapons?" She eyed him critically.

The Doctor gave another noncommittal shrug. "Well, yes. Anyone who wanted to could use it to create weapons of mass destruction." He rubbed at his chin. "In fact, it's the kind of thing I'd expect from those men who were shooting at us." His eyes narrowed as he contemplated that possibility.

"We should tell the others," GoGo said, reaching for her phone. When she tried to activate it, however, the screen remained blank. "What the?"

Hearing the confusion in her voice, the Time Lord took the phone from her hands and looked at it. "Battery's dead," he announced. "Must have drained when the TARDIS took off. I'm guessing she tried to use whatever energy she could to sustain flight, and since you were connected to her by holding that lever, she took the charge right out of your phone. That, or it just got zapped by all the static in the air. Either is possible."

The girl glared at him for a moment, then, taking the phone, she slid it back into her pocket. "Well, that's just great." She moved over to Hiro and began searching in his pockets.

"May I ask what you are doing?" Baymax inquired, noting the girl's strange behavior.

GoGo stopped riffling through Hiro's pockets in frustration. "Drat. It's not here." She let out her breath in a huff. "Hiro's phone's gone."

"Want to borrow mine?" Rose asked, holding out her cell. "Gets really good reception." She gave the Doctor a knowing look. In a previous incarnation, he'd done a bit of "jiggery pokery" on it, making it capable of making calls from the past and future, among other things.

Taking the phone, GoGo dialed Honey's number from memory. "Let's just hope someone answers," she said.

........................................

Honey grabbed for her phone like someone was trying to steal it. She didn't recognize the number on the ID, but things were too weird to not answer. She hit the appropriate button and put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

The Latino went very still for a second, her face showing an array of emotion. "GoGo!" she all but screamed as excitement dominated her face. "We're here at the café! Where are you guys? We thought you'd be here by now."

The girl's face tensed as she listened, her shoulders hunched a bit as she cradled the phone, listening to GoGo's quick explanation of what had happened. "Mmhmm. Mmhmm. What!"

Wasabi shouldered his way over, almost tripping over the roller chair someone had forgotten to put back under the computer desk of the garage. "Honey, what's going on? Where're Hiro and the others?"

Fred placed one closed hand under his chin as he watched Honey's changing emotions. "Looks like it's something serious. You think they discovered who's behind all this mess?"

Wasabi waved him to silence. His muscles tensed as he waited for Honey to relay the information she was getting. It was difficult, but important if they were to figure out what was going on.

Several minutes passed before Honey hung up the phone. She turned to the other two with a serious face. "Guys, we've got a problem," she said.

..........................................

Hiro blinked, trying to open his eyes. It was hard to tell if he was dreaming or awake, but, for whatever reason, he was back in the warehouse. Only, this time, the others weren't with him. He was completely alone.

"Hello?" he called out. The echo of his voice was the only answer. His phone rang and he reached to answer it. When he did, the only sound that came over the line was static. "Hello?"

With no further answer, he closed the phone. But instead of sliding back into his pocket, the phone dropped to the floor, shattering into a thousand pieces.

"No!" He dived towards the broken bits, realizing, at the last moment, that it was a really bad idea. But instead of hitting the ground, he went through it.

Wind rushed up past him as he clung to the steel cable protruding from Krei Tech Industries' ruined building. Above him, the portal swirled with energy. Debris flew past him, whizzing all over the place.

Looking down, he could see Professor Callaghan, suspended above a sea of blue fog. And further below, the occasional flash of Wasabi's plasma blade gloves as he sliced at the microbots trying to kill them.

But instead of flying up into the portal, the microbots reformed, striking over and over again at his friends. When Hiro looked to see the Professor, his image blurred. Instead of wearing the dark brown-ish coat and kabuki mask, he wore jet black and had a flaming face.

Crying out, Hiro let go of the cable. Without Baymax to catch him, he raced towards the portal. Turning to face it head on, he braced against the impact, suddenly aware that he was no longer wearing his gear.

He sliced through the wavering light like a hot knife through butter. Moving like a shooting star, he soon came to the area where the debris from Krei's building should have been. But instead of the expected broken glass and metal, he was met with broken rock fragments of varying size.

Still not in control of his momentum, Hiro tried to dodge what he could, but was pelted by many smaller meteors as he continued forward. Going further through the psychedelic clouds, he finally slowed down. And up ahead was the capsule again.

Hiro grabbed for the floating pod, making it slowly spin as it canceled out the rest of his forward motion. He had to close his eyes until the spinning slowed to a more manageable speed, but once he did, he couldn't resist the urge to scrape aside the frost covering the pod's window.

Fully expecting to see Abigail Callaghan, or even Tadashi inside the capsule, Hiro was unprepared for what he saw next. Instead of the expected faces, he saw his own, cradled against the cushions of the seat. He was so shocked that he let go of the pod, floating away as it spun out of reach.


	11. Portal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, last chapter I'm posting tonight as "catch up" from what I have already up on Fanfiction.net. You will have to wait like everyone else now, for what happens next. :D

Baymax perked up as Hiro groaned in his sleep. He scanned the boy, noting his vital signs were still stable, blood sugar levels a bit low, but not like on previous occurrences. "Hiro?"

Without warning, Hiro gasped, sitting up from the bench seat. His eyes went wide like a fish, his hands grabbing at the frame of the impromptu bed. His chest heaved as he sucked in air like a man saved from drowning.

Hearing the boy, the Doctor sauntered over with his screwdriver. He ran the device around him, looking thoughtful. "They've broken the connection," he observed.

GoGo rushed to join the trio, resisting the urge to bite her lip, not sure what would happen next. Every time had been different. "Hiro? Can you hear me?" she asked, bending closer to the boy.

Hiro blinked a few times, then shook his head. "I had the strangest dream," he stated as he swung his legs to dangle over the edge of the cushions. "I was back in the portal and-"

"What portal?" The Doctor asked, interrupting him. He didn't recall hearing anything about a portal before. It could be literal or figurative. If it was from the boy's dreams, maybe it was just a representation. But if it was something else, a memory, perhaps, that was a different kettle of fish.

Rubbing at his eyes, Hiro leaned back against the seat. "The one Krei made," he answered. "Ugh. I feel so weak."

"What does he mean," Rose inquired. "The one Krei made? Who's Krei?"

GoGo straightened from her half crouch. "Krei is a businessman and leader in technology. A couple months ago, one of our professors stole a portal he'd created to allow instantaneous transport from one place to another. He tried to use it as revenge against Krei for sending his daughter through as a test pilot. She didn't come out and..."

"Hiro and I entered the portal to retrieve the patient," Baymax finished for her, sensing her stress levels rising at the telling.

Swallowing, GoGo nodded. "Hiro almost didn't make it back. Baymax... Baymax sacrificed himself so that both Hiro and Abigail could make it back out."

Rose glanced at the robot in confusion. "But he's right here. How could he have sacrificed himself if he's here."

"He left his chip," Hiro answered for her, swallowing hard. "I didn't realize it until later, though." He sat up again, head now bowed. "But when I did, I rebuilt his body. The original one, the one Tadashi made, is still floating around in there, somewhere."

The Doctor scrunched up his face in thought, one hand to his chin. He thought about it for a moment. "You mean to tell me that you went inside a portal that was meant to transport someone, or something, from one point of space to another?"

At his tone, Hiro looked up. "Well, yeah. Krei was working on a government contract, but something went wrong. The second portal was destroyed, trapping Callaghan's daughter inside. When we faced him later, Baymax found her and we brought her back."

Still making that funny face, the Doctor scrutinized them even further. "You mean to tell me that you went through a portal that basically slipped you between space? Please tell me you wore some kind of protective clothing."

"My gear?" Hiro responded, still feeling a bit groggy.

The Doctor rubbed at his face, shaking his head. "Not good. From what I've seen of your gear, it wouldn't keep out the radiation and other particles. Not a chance in a million. Not hermetically sealed. Skin exposed. Not good at all."

It was Rose's turn to look confused and a little scared. "What do you mean, Doctor? Surely you're not saying...?"

He ran his fingers through his hair, face long in expression. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

GoGo gave them both a look, tempted to tap her foot. "Just what are you saying?"

"I would also like to know," Baymax added. "I do not recall detecting any radiation or particles that might have harmed Hiro." Of course, at the time, he was rather distracted with finding Abigail and hadn't done as thorough a scan as he probably should have.

Both the Doctor and Rose looked grave, making Hiro feel more than a little uncomfortable. "Hey, guys, what's going on? What's so bad about that?"

The Doctor looked up at him with tired eyes. "That portal, the place you went, no mortal creature was meant to stay there long. In fact, no one's supposed to go there without some kind of protection. This Abigail you mentioned, was she in some kind of gear too?"

"She was in a sealed suit inside a space capsule," Baymax answered, not sure where this was all going. He detected an increase in respirations in all those around him, especially in Hiro.

Now sitting on the edge of the bench next to the boy, the Time Lord cupped his chin in his hand, thinking. "And no others were there? Excepting you?" He glanced at Baymax for confirmation. "About how long would you say you were in there?"

"I don't know," Hiro shrugged.

Baymax managed to look confused as he thought about it. "I cannot be certain," he admitted. "I would estimate no more than several minutes. We had to navigate around a field of debris before finding the patient. Then, on the way back, there were complications delaying our return. It may have been longer. I do not have any memory of what happened after I removed my healthcare chip." The others had tried to fill in the blanks for him, but that didn't help with estimating a time frame now.

The Doctor sat up straighter with that comment. "Complications?"

Hiro felt his chest tighten as he recalled that moment, his voice also tightening. "I didn't see it coming. Baymax moved to protect us both from the cement block. It destroyed half of his armor, including his thrusters." He swallowed hard, tears pricking at his eyes.

Both Baymax and GoGo reached arms around to give him a comforting hug.

Taking a deep breath, Hiro continued. "I managed to pull Baymax towards the capsule, but there was no way we could get enough momentum to make it all the way back. So... So Baymax used his undamaged rocket fist to send us back through." His chest heaved as he tried to not cry, remembering seeing his friend floating away as he rocketed towards safety. It was almost like losing Tadashi all over again.

Compassion mirrored on both the Doctor and Rose's faces as they watched the boy try to not fall apart. Despite having his robotic friend again, the event had obviously been tragic. Chances were good, if the Time Lord was remembering things right, that event had followed the death of his brother.

"What you did," the Doctor said quietly, "was something no one else, in my memory, has ever done." He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, around GoGo and Baymax's arms. "When the TARDIS travels, it cuts through time and space. To keep things simple, it cuts through the space between, and no one's meant to go there, just cut through it. You were there for what could be considered an eternity without even realizing it. That's bound to have had an effect on you. In fact, I'm willing to bet that's the exact reason behind your subtle change of DNA."

Hiro seemed to jump at that, causing GoGo's arms to slip from his body. "What! When did that happen?" He glanced at Baymax, who looked away. GoGo did the same. "When were you guys going to tell me?"

GoGo messed with her hair while Baymax seemed to turn a light shade of pink near his face.

The boy's face fell as he watched them avoid answering. Why was it so hard? All they had to do was say something. Anything.

Rose watched Hiro as the corners of his mouth turned down. It was obvious that he was hurting. "Hey," she said, crouching to be at his eye level. "Don't think of it like that. It's not like they were purposely keeping it from you. It's been really hectic, you know?"

"I am sorry I did not inform you of this earlier," Baymax said quietly. "The changes are subtle and I was not made aware of them until the Doctor alerted me to their presence."

The frown didn't change, but Hiro's shoulders drooped further. "Thanks, I guess. I mean, I already felt like a failure. Now I feel like a freak too." He pushed away any comforting gestures as he stood and headed towards the TARDIS's door. "Just leave me alone."

GoGo reached out a hesitant hand, her stomach twisting with guilt. Her eyes widened when Hiro unbolted the door. "Wait!"

But the Doctor put a hand on her shoulder. "Let him go. He won't go far."

Looking into the Doctor's serious face, she couldn't help but feel a bit of shock. "But we're still in space!"

The Time Lord shook his head. "Back on dry land," he informed her. "Not entirely sure where, just yet, but at least we're back in the city."

The door closed behind the boy, shutting gently as everyone seemed to let out a collective sigh.

.....................................

Hiro leaned against the side of the brick wall, a good enough distance away from the TARDIS that he couldn't see it. The headache was back again, which he guessed wasn't too surprising. A lot had happened and he needed to process. Tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes as he let his body drag him to the ground. He didn't even bother looking around. What was the point?

It reminded him of losing Tadashi all over again. The helplessness. The feeling of lose and betrayal. The rational part of him knew it wasn't on purpose, but it still hurt.

He pulled his knees up to his chest, holding them tight with clenched fists as he buried his head in his arms. Clenching his teeth, he tried to stave off the waves of emotion washing over him, but that didn't help either.

Footsteps sounded with the crunching of gravel, but he still didn't look up. He was so immersed in his anguish that he didn't feel the large hands grabbing him from above.

.........................................

GoGo kicked at the floor. She'd seen that look on Hiro's face before, and it made her feel horrible. "We should have told him," she said, looking at the ground.

"I regret that we did not," Baymax added.

They all knew that an appropriate time hadn't come up, but it was news to the black-haired girl that Hiro had felt useless, at least to that extent.

Trying to give them a moment, the Doctor went back to his control panels, typing in commands. If possible, he wanted to trace the location of the second missile, since the first one had likely been from a temporary site.

Rose moved to give GoGo a hug. "I'm sorry," she said. "I know what it's like to have someone go through a hard time and not be able to do anything about it." She'd been there time and time again, with the Doctor and without him. "He'll be okay. He just needs some time to cool off."

GoGo turned to welcome her embrace, closing her eyes. She was tired, so tired.

"I have lost Hiro's signal," Baymax announced as he shuffled towards the door.

GoGo went ramrod straight as she looked towards the door. "What?" She all but ran to the door, throwing it open. She was the first out, looking around frantically.

They had landed inside a back alley in who knew what part of town. A dumpster sat next to them, all but empty of trash. Despite that, it smelled. The girl looked both ways, even going to so far as to run to the nearest visible corner to see if he'd simply wandered off.

Baymax shuffled onto the concrete, Rose behind him. "I still do not detect him," he informed the two women.

GoGo balled her fists as she returned to the TARDIS door. "I'm going to wreak havoc on whoever took him," she vowed.

..........................................

Abigail started, hearing someone open her office door. Looking up from the floor, she almost felt relieved to see Alistair Krei staring at her.

"Abigail?" Krei moved further into the room. "What are you doing under there?" He moved the chair so she could climb out without incident.

Accepting his help, Abigail crept out and stood, placing a steadying hand on the desktop. "Sorry," she apologized. "I had a moment."

That was all it took for Krei to understand. He pulled her into a hug. Things had changed after the portal incident. With her father in jail, Krei had felt responsible, trying to take on the role of a surrogate for her. He wasn't sure if she appreciated it or not, but so far she hadn't complained. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head, not really sure what she wanted. "I was back in the portal," she confessed. She didn't remember much of the incident that had led to being stuck in hyper sleep, just bits and pieces. She'd not been in the portal long before she'd blacked out.

"I saw the capsule," she continued, turning to grasp at Krei's wide shoulders as her body trembled. "But I wasn't inside it. There was someone else. A boy. I think it was Tadashi Hamada's brother. But I think he was dead."

Krei's eyes widened in surprise but he held on to the trembling girl as she sobbed into his shoulder. He didn't know what all had happened inside the portal, but he did know Hiro was the one who'd gone back in to save her. "Shh," he comforted, smoothing her hair. "It's all right. I'm sure Hiro Hamada's fine."

Abigail continued to shake, holding onto Krei's body like he was some kind of lifeline. "It was so real," she whispered.

"Tell you what," he straightened a bit. "Why don't I have some of my men look for him? Would that help?"

Abigail looked up, her face tear-stained as she nodded. "Yes. Thank you."

........................................

Alexander Thomas nodded from the observation platform suspended over the impromptu arena. Thanks to some strong encouragement, the R&D department had delivered. It was just a prototype, but it was glorious.

"Begin test," Thomas called out as he leaned over the railing, eager to see what their latest creation could do.

Down on the arena floor, the exoskeleton gleamed, the man inside visible through the domed helmet. Saluting, the man engaged the controls, sending the mechanical creation towards a brick wall, crushing it with ease.

Several more obstacles had been set up around the area, including giant chunks of cement, metal rods, and even a bit of fire. The exoskeleton'd man overcame each element with ease.

"We hope to install thrusters in the next round," head researcher Kim announced as she watched her creation with pride. "We're still working on discovering all the uses of this new metal, but so far it's pretty durable, as you can see."

Thomas watched the test pilot continue through the obstacle course. The suit didn't so much as have a scratch on it. The exoglass curved smoothly into the metal frame, acting as an extension of the man inside. "And everything functions?"

Kim nodded. "Life support is stable. Our man can stay in there for days if he has to. We're still working on adding in the weapons you requested, but should have that later on today."

"Good." Thomas turned to an assistant, glancing at the clipboard handed to him. "How soon can you have a dozen street ready?"

Kim pushed back her brown hair in surprise. Her dark skin contrasted with her unusually green eyes. "Street ready? We're still in prototype mode."

Signing whatever forms where on the clipboard, Thomas simply chose not to look at her. "I want a dozen units ready to go tomorrow. I don't care what you have to do."

Looking at the man, Kim's step faltered just a bit. "We'll do our best, sir."

"Good."

..............................................

Hiro almost jumped out of his skin when a set of large hands grabbed him by the shoulders, all but hoisting him to his feet with ease. "Ah!"

"Take it easy, okay?"

His eyes went wide when he saw the man who had grabbed him, not sure if he should run, scream, or just stare dumbfounded. The man's hair reminded him of Tadashi's, only it was a bit lighter, though his facial structure was nowhere near his brothers, nor was his build. This guy was much more solid, and seemed to carry himself like someone with authority. The dark pea coat didn't help matters, reminding him of Professor Callaghan, even if reason dictated that this man was decidedly not the professor. He couldn't be that old.

"Name's Jack," the stranger introduced removing his hands from Hiro's shoulders. "Jack Harkness. Mind telling me what a kid your age is doing out in an area like this?" He looked down at the boy with what could only be called an admonishing look.

Hiro's mouth stretched, showing his gap-toothed orthodontics. Jack rather thought the boy might have an aneurysm if this kept up, seeing the panic trying to set in.

Looking over his shoulder, Jack made a snap decision. "Come on. I've got to get you out of here. It's not safe." Without giving the boy a chance to do anything, he grabbed his arm and forcibly led him away from the alley.

Hiro looked back towards the corner where the TARDIS sat, biting his tongue as he tripped on some loose rubbish. "Ah!" He didn't fall, though, as Jack's grip kept him upright, but he felt more than a little jerked around. His leg throbbed. "Wait!"

Looking forward once more, he noticed the man had some kind of wireless earpiece on and that he was talking into it.

"Area secure. Found a little lost puppy, but I'm moving him out of harm's way."

The boy couldn't hear whatever was said on the other end, but he was beginning to wonder if there hadn't been some kind of big misunderstanding. "Hey! Let me go! Baymax!"

Still not looking at the boy, just paying attention to where he was going, Jack only hastened his pace. "We've got to get you out of here. You don't want to be around when things start going down. Trust me on that one."

"Wait!" Hiro called out again, his voice fluctuating from the constant motion. "Baymax!" He dropped his weight, making Jack pause to readjust his grip. "Let me go and I won't press charges," he gushed, chest heaving.

Jack seemed to pull back at that comment. "Press charges? Are you serious?" He contemplated the boy for a moment. "I'm not into kids, okay?"

"Then who are you?" Hiro asked, grimacing at the strength of the man's grip on him. "Ow."

Realizing he was causing discomfort, Jack relaxed his grip just a little. "I told you, Jack Harkness." He paused to correct himself. "Captain Harkness to you. I'm with a specialized group sent to secure the area due to recent special activity."

"Wait. What?" Hiro pulled his arm free. "You're investigating the exploding asteroid? We are too!"

The time traveling captain checked the alley in both directions. "We? And how did you know about the asteroid?"

Hiro nodded emphatically. "Yes! Me and my team! And this weird guy called the Doctor...."

Jack's eyes seemed to light up at the mention of the Doctor. "The Doctor? With the funny blue box? Makes a funny noise when it moves? That Doctor?"

"Yes!" Hiro massaged his arm where the indentation of Jack's fingers lingered. "Like I said, we're investigating that asteroid that blew up and he-"

Hiro didn't get a chance to finish as Jack whipped out some device on his wrist, frantically typing something on the mini screen inside. "Hold on tight," he commanded as he put an arm around the boy's middle.

"Ah!" Hiro almost bit his tongue again as beams of light engulfed them before they disappeared.


	12. Jack

Chapter Twelve: Jack

Wasabi cleared his throat. "So, now what are we supposed to do?" He glanced meaningfully at the other two.

Honey shook her head. "I don't know. But I think we should head back to the manor."

"I agree," Fred said, one hand in the air, pointer finger up. "We can make a plan of attack from there. It will take some doing, but we must stop this super villain."

Wasabi resisted the urge to face palm. Sometimes he wondered if it wasn't all like a game to the laid-back looking man. At the very least, it was like a dream come true. As for himself, well, Wasabi wasn't entirely thrilled, but it was nice to be useful and help people.

"I'm going to call Heathcliff," Fred announced, pulling out his phone. "Much faster," he explained. "And we should make sure everyone's gear's ready."

Honey nodded. It was the best plan they had, for now. Hopefully GoGo and the others were figuring things out. Waiting was the hardest part.

.....................................

"Here." Jack pushed a steaming bowl of ramen noodles towards Hiro. The liquid splashed just a bit, but that was quickly sopped up with a napkin. "Now that we're out of the way, why don't you tell me more about what's going on."

Hiro eyed the captain, still not sure about him. "Why don't you first tell me how you know the Doctor and what you were doing in that alley?"

Grinning, Jack couldn't help but admire the kid. "Touché," he answered. "I haven't given you any reason to trust me yet, have I?" The resulting headshake was answer enough so he settled back against the booth's not-so-comfy shell.

"Okay, let's see," Jack began, trying to decide just how much to tell him. "I met the Doctor a long time ago, back when I was more of a con man than anything."

Hiro almost spewed noodles at that announcement, not that he was any better. Before Tadashi had encouraged him to use his big brain for something more, he'd played a great con in the bot fighting arena, pretending to be a helpless newbie, until his Megabot destroyed all the competition. "You, a con? No."

Ignoring the sarcasm, Jack continued. "Let's just say he made me see the error of my ways and set me on a different path, helping people. I admit it got kind of addictive, the battles, the planning, putting things together."

Hiro nodded, completely understanding this aspect. He suddenly felt like he could trust this guy, at least a little bit. They'd both been through combat. Although it hadn't been for the same things, or reasons, it was something they had in common. And the man was right about it being a bit addictive. Okay, totally addictive. Sometimes he wondered if he didn't go on missions more as an escape from reality then to help others, but only sometimes.

"He's saved my life more times than I can count, and I'd like to think I've saved his a few times too," Jack nodded, seeing Hiro's reactions. His estimation of the boy went up a notch. "We've helped each other off and on over the years."

"Fair enough," Hiro responded, then slurped another mouthful of noodles. The ramen was pretty good, not that cheap crap some people got at the store. Authentic. Another point in the captain's favor.

"As for why I was in that alley, I was trying to secure the area," the captain eyed the boy, trying not to smile at the liquid dripping from his chin. He hadn't gotten anything, but when he'd heard the boy's stomach growl… well, he couldn't just leave him hungry. "We've had reports of a possible experiment happening in the area. We're not exactly sure where, but figured that area was the most likely."

Hiro tilted the bowl so he could drink the soupy part, slurping loudly as he nodded again. "What kind of experiment?"

Jack scratched just above his ear. "We're not sure," he admitted. "What we do know is they shot down that asteroid for the metal inside it and they're somehow using it to create a weapon."

"Maybe that's what the others were talking about earlier," Hiro muttered to himself. He wasn't really sure, though, because he'd been rather out of it, but he thought he remembered GoGo talking about some group wanting to make weapons from the metal. But was that reality or just part of his dream? He wasn't sure.

Still looking thoughtful, the space captain contemplated what his eyes told him. "Just what were you and the Doctor doing? And do you know where he is now?"

Finished with his ramen, Hiro pointed at the empty bowl. "You want to know? You're going to have to come up with a lot more than just a bowl of ramen."

....................................

Baymax seemed so lost without Hiro, GoGo thought as she eyed the giant marshmallow. They'd scouted out the area, looking for him, but had nothing to show for it.

"If I had my enhanced scanner, I would be able to detect his life signs from a high vantage," Baymax mused as he stared at the ground. It had worked when they'd tried to find Callaghan. There was no reason to think it wouldn't work with Hiro, especially since he knew Hiro's life signs like the back of his vinyl hand.

The Doctor suddenly jumped up. "That's it! If we can find Hiro, maybe he will lead us to the men behind this!" He danced excitedly around the control panels, inputting data.

Despite previous attempts to track the trajectory of the missiles, they hadn't found much for their efforts. The launch site had turned into another dead end, a temporary base to throw anyone off the tracks of the real culprits.

"If we go back to the manor, will you be able to get what you need?" The Time Lord looked intently at the robot, not as an awesome piece of tech, but almost as an equal.

Baymax considered this. "My armor is currently stored at the manor," he stated. "Once retrieved, I should be able to scan the city for Hiro."

Clapping his hands, the Doctor threw a few more switches. "Then let's be off! To the Manor!"

..................................

Somewhat dejected, Fred, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon walked into their main command center, remembering at the last moment that the place was still a mess.

Wasabi let out a sigh. "Guess we'd better straighten this up before anything else," he said. Already, his skin was itching because of the disorder.

"I'll get the mop," Fred announced and headed back out to find Heathcliff.

While Fred was gone, the other two did what they could with buckets and towels. Wearing gloves, they were able to get up the worse of the mess. Honey was the most excited when she found the bulb of liquid space rock, unharmed, in the mix. She set it aside for safekeeping.

Fred returned with a mop and bucket on wheels. 'Tadah!" he announced as he pushed the cleaning implement in through the door. "Heathcliff's getting another one from storage," he added.

With the majority of the mess taken care of, mopping became a breeze. Fred did the honors while Wasabi made sure everything was back in its place, precisely in order. That left a nice open space for the comings and goings of everyone.

Luckily, neither Baymax's, GoGo's, or Hiro's gear had been affected by the chemical spill. A few oddments had to be replaced, like Honey's chemical apparatus, but that wasn't unexpected.

Just when they thought they'd gotten everything cleaned up, the strangest thing occurred. It was hard to tell what happened first, the strange noise, or the pulsating blue light. But the next thing they knew, a phone booth-sized box appeared in the middle of the clear area.

When the door opened, GoGo rushed out, looking around frantically for a moment, before she spotted the unused gear. She bee-lined it for Baymax's armor, grabbing what she could. "Need this," she called out as she almost ran Wasabi over.

Wasabi's eyes almost popped as Baymax, the Doctor, and Rose all came out of the blue box, the robot with more difficulty because of his size.

The three had Baymax's armor halfway on before the sushi chef could process what was going. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "What's going on?"

"No time," GoGo admonished as she grabbed up her gear and ran to an adjoining bathroom to change.

Honey stared as the other two continued to try and fit the armor in place. Without a word, she went to help them, as both seemed to be having a hard time figuring out how the chest plate worked with the vinyl body. "Here," she offered, taking the part that covered Baymax's lower middle section. With a few shoves, it locked into place.

"Can someone please tell me what's going on!?" Wasabi raised his voice.

GoGo rolled back into the room, fully geared up. "We're going to find Hiro," she answered impatiently.

Fred, having seen the flurry of movement, dived for his suit, flipping the head section into place. "Yes! Yes! Let's do this!"

Everyone stopped when Honey spoke up, holding her helmet. She and Wasabi hadn't bothered to change. "What happened to Hiro?"

The Doctor looked up from adjusting a few settings on his screwdriver. He glanced at Rose, who glanced at GoGo. "We don't know," he finally answered.

Wasabi moved to stand right in front of the Time Lord, his expression unreadable. "What. Happened. To. Hiro?"

GoGo moved to intercept him. "It's a long story," she offered, the corners of her mouth down-turned. "We lost track of him somewhere in the city. We think the enemy might have him."

"What?!" Wasabi almost swallowed his tongue.

Pushing her friend aside, GoGo climbed up on Baymax's back. "We're going to scan the city to find him, so get out of the way."

Mouth open, Wasabi stared at the adrenaline junkie. "Wha? But…. We're coming with you."

GoGo peered up over Baymax's shoulder as she settled herself. "Listen, nitwit, someone's gotta stay here and act as ground support. We don't know what we're dealing with, okay? It makes no sense to get us all trapped in one place."

Wasabi's eyes hardened at her tone. "It's never stopped us before," he retorted.

Honey set her helmet down on the workbench and moved to put a hand on Wasabi's arm. "GoGo's right," she said quietly. "We don't know what's going on. Going in blind could possibly hurt Hiro."

"Well, I'm going," Fred pouted, folding his arms inside his suit. "You're not going to keep me from going.

The Doctor clapped his hands together. "Children," he called out with authority. "Let's get this clear, not everyone can go. But the longer we all dicker about it, the smaller the chance we find your little friend."

Glaring, Wasabi moved back into the Doctor's personal space. "I still don't know if we can trust you," he argued.

With a growl, GoGo climbed back down. "Look, it's a long shot, okay? But trust me when I say no one's going to be left out. Just because we find him doesn't mean we won't need help getting him back. We're not even sure what happened just yet, okay? Just be ready to run at a moment's notice."

"You can trust the Doctor," Baymax added helpfully. "He is here to help."

Rose chewed on her lip as she listened to their exchange. "Hey, just let them do whatever it is they need to do. I'm staying here to help out. Maybe he just ran off."

Wasabi gave her such a look that she took a step back. "Hiro would never just run off." He turned and walked away, slamming the door behind him as he left the room.

GoGo rolled her eyes. "We don't have time for this," she muttered as she climbed back up onto Baymax's back. "Baymax, let's find Hiro."

The robot blinked, then activated the mechanism that would open the roof like a car's sunroof. "I am ready," he announced.

"Let's go!" GoGo called out and the two rocketed up into the sky.


	13. Misunderstanding

"Now that's more like it," Hiro grinned as he checked out the spread of food in front of him. After some convincing, that Captain Jack guy had finally come through with a decent meal. Okay, decent was putting it mildly. It was more like a feast. But that was more than okay with the teen.

Jack eyed the boy, wondering just what was going on in his head as he picked up the sake. He wasn't exactly sure how old this boy was, but if they were going to talk business, he probably should offer a little something. He poured two small cups of the alcohol and slid one in front of the boy.

Hiro looked up in surprise, his hair almost tickling his nose. He probably should get a haircut, he mused, but that was a thought for another time. "Um… I'm not old enough for that," he said, not sure what to do with the small cup.

Jack gave a rather lopsided grin as he let out a laugh. "Not the drinking type?"

"Uh, no. It's not that," Hiro back-peddled, all put throwing his hands out in protest. "I'm not of legal age and…" He couldn't tell the guy that his aunt would probably kill him if she found it. Sure, there was the occasional time when he'd seen her slip a little something at night, but, in general, she wasn't the drinking type. And he knew she didn't want him to be, either.

Eyes sparkling with mischief, Jack let out a bemused sigh. "Never knew a man of combat to refuse a drink," he said. Not strictly true, he amended to himself. The Doctor wasn't really the drinking type. And if he'd really wanted to ply the child with liquor, he'd have pulled out his flask. Now that was some strong stuff. "Fine," he gave in, seeing the continued astonished look on Hiro's face.

Taking the second cup, he downed it without so much as a blink. "Now that's the stuff." He wiped at his mouth, pouring another shot, more than amused at the looks he was getting from his dinner companion. "Now, you promised you'd tell me your side if I provided more food." He waved his hand to encompass the lavish spread. "We've got the food. Now all we need is the tale."

"Right." Hiro rubbed at his neck, wondering just what he should tell this strange man. He obviously didn't see kids in the same light as most people. Who offered a fourteen-year-old sake? Okay, dumb question, he amended. He knew a lot of adults who would, not that he hung out with them. He'd just heard about them from listening. Listening was a great skill to have.

Digging into the grub, Hiro paused to look up, still not sure what to say. "Where do you want me to start?"

Jack shook his head, just enough to see the gesture, but not enough to discourage anything. "Why don't you begin with how you met the Doctor?"

Chopsticks in his mouth, Hiro went through a bevy of emotions before managing to swallow the food he'd stuffed inside. "Um… well, that's kind of a hard one. You see, I think my friends met him way before I did. I mean, I've been out of it a lot lately and…"

The quizzical look Jack gave him gave him reason to peter off and he fidgeted nervously. He still wasn't sure what he thought about the man with the space traveling box that was bigger on the inside. "Uh…. Maybe I should go back a bit," he said, filling the awkward pause.

Before he knew it, he was telling the captain everything that had happened since the rain had started only a day ago. Mentally, he felt shocked at how little time had actually passed. Was it only a day? And all the while, he kept stuffing his face with the food in front of him. Definitely not what he was used to eating, he thought, wondering if he shouldn't slow down. His stomach was getting rather full.

Jack nodded at all the right parts, trying to fill in the blanks the boy left, either because he didn't know or because he didn't seem inclined to tell him. Either was possible. "So you ran off in a fit of tantrum when you found out they hadn't told you how you'd been changed by the portal."

"Yeah." Putting it that way, Hiro couldn't help but feel embarrassed by his actions. It was just like when he'd gone on a revenge-bent rage when he'd found out Callaghan hadn't cared that his actions had killed Tadashi. It was stupid and childish. He hung his head in shame.

Another small glass was pushed in front of his face and he looked up. The cup was larger than the sake cup, but small enough that it wasn't meant for anything obvious. "Huh?"

Jack didn't smile this time. "You might need that," he stated as he readjusted his seat. "Should take off the edge of whatever you're feeling."

Still looking up with a mix of astonishment and shame, Hiro wasn't sure what to do. What was in that cup? Was the guy trying to give him alcohol again? Or was it something innocent, like fruit juice? "I…."

At that exact moment, the door to the small restaurant opened and the Doctor, followed by Hiro's friends, burst into the room. Seeing Jack with the boy, the Doctor all but rushed to the table in agitation. "What are you doing here, Jack?" He looked from the man to the boy, noting the two sake cups, and the additional cup in front of the boy. "Just what have you been doing with this boy? Nothing inappropriate, I hope."

Jack seemed to back up in his chair, standing with an air of denial. "Nothing like that!" he defended.

The Doctor looked pointedly at the sake cups.

"It's not what it looks like," Jack continued to defend, pushing further back from the table.

GoGo placed one hand on her hip, popping her gum as she stared with unfriendly eyes at the unknown man near Hiro. Sure, the Doctor seemed to know this guy, but they didn't. "Who are you? And what are you doing with Hiro?"

Looking far more flustered than usual at the sudden onslaught of stares from five individuals in assorted armor, Jack couldn't help but shake a bit. "Nothing!" he protested. "Just buying the kid dinner!

Honey looked towards Hiro, her hands ready to program a chemical formula bomb from her purse, should it be necessary. "Is that true, Hiro?"

Feeling like the kid who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Hiro gave a weak but guilty grin. "Yes?" His answer came out more as a hesitant question than anything as he eyed his friends, all of whom looked ready to turn his dinner companion into a pile of ash.

The owner of the restaurant wisely chose to ignore what was going on in his establishment, knowing Jack kept some interesting company. All the same, he was ready to call the cops if things went down.

GoGo moved forward, grabbing Hiro by the arm. "Let's go," she ordered as she pulled him from behind the table. "We need to talk, and this isn't the place."

Hiro pulled away from her, wondering just what the crap had happened since he'd left the TARDIS. "Wait," he exclaimed. "It's not what you think. I think Jack's one of the good guys."

The three college students glared at Jack, who put his hands up where they could see them. The red-suited robot merely contemplated him, scanning him, just in case. "I am one of the good guys," he protested.

"Well," the Doctor hedged, lifting his shoulders. "Technically, that's true. He does work for the 'good guys', as it were." He gave the captain a piercing look. "Just what are you doing in this area, Jack?"

Straightening his jacket, Jack offered a military-style salute. "Sir." His heels clapped together, making Hiro either want to laugh or look on in awe. "I'm doing the same thing you are, trying to get to the bottom of this whole mess."

At the look in the ex-time agent's eye, the Doctor nodded. "Oh. I see. Well then, maybe we should talk about this somewhere else." He moved to take the larger man by the arm, steering him towards the door.

"Wait," GoGo called out. "Just what's going on?"

"Yeah," Fred piped up, standing menacingly in the two men's way "What's going on?"

Rose leaned against the doorframe, giving the Doctor an eye roll. It was always amusing to watch how those two interacted. But now was not the time, and these kids did need answers, especially since they were up to their necks in it. "Just tell them," she admonished.

The Doctor looked back at the glaring heroes. Well, Baymax wasn't glaring, but he did manage to look confused. It was a good thing they'd brought him without his gear. "Oh, all right," he conceded. "But not here, all right?" He glanced at the shop's owner with a sharp look, causing the man to look away. "Back to the manor?"

Wasabi nodded, his arms folded. He felt more comfortable being on home turf. And it was definitely more secure than where they were now.

At a nod from GoGo, the others filed outside behind the three travelers. Hiro, half expecting to see the TARDIS, was surprised to see one of Fred's limos waiting for them. "Isn't that a little… um... conspicuous?" he asked as people began to duck inside.

Throwing back his hood, Fred shrugged. "It was easier than the helicopter," he replied as he, too, ducked inside the confines of the stretch limo. "Besides, I wasn't too sure about that magic box of his." He indicated the Doctor with a clawed thumb.

"Right," Hiro nodded. Of the three of his friends who hadn't seen the TARDIS, Fred was probably the most likely to find the odd box somehow cool. He wasn't sure how the others would view it, but there wasn't much he could do about it.

........................................

From behind the next corner down, two men in black noted the limo as it pulled away from the small restaurant. One radioed in to let his boss know they'd spotted their target. Cutting the communication short, he signaled to his partner to follow the long, black car.

................................

Cass Hamada had never felt more eager to leave a place. She'd fidgeted all morning in her hospital gown, the sheets scratching her skin. She was more ready to leave than she ever thought she'd be. Of course, she attributed most of it to wanting to make sure Hiro was okay. After all, no one seemed able to tell her if her nephew had been found or not.

Now back in street clothes, Cass rode one of the many trolleys back to the café. Hospitals were for the birds. She avoided them when at all possible. Still, it was a relief to know she hadn't gone and hurt herself too badly.

The doctor had urged her to take things easy for a while, and to call if she had any residual side effects. Not that she planned on calling them if any did. They had Baymax, after all. And sure, he was more Hiro's than anybody's, but she knew the robot would be more than willing to keep an eye on her.

With a sigh, Cass exited the trolley and walked the half a dozen yards or so to the front door of the café. With a bit of confusion, she noticed the 'closed' sign in the window. Surely someone had been home to do that, she reasoned.

She was in for even more of a surprise when she went inside and found most of the mess already cleaned up. "Well, this is nice," she commented. It saved her a lot of time and trouble. Obviously Hiro had to have been home at some point. "Hiro?" she called out, not sure if she should expect to hear him answer or not.

Moving further into the café, she noticed that someone had righted the shelves in the storage area, picking up the fallen contents, and tried to put them in some semblance of order. Luckily, the pictures on the walls hadn't fallen, which she thought a blessing.

Bypassing the rest of the café for later, Cass slowly went up the stairs to the living level. Furniture had moved around, but nothing seemed broken or out of place, thankfully. "Hiro?" she called out again.

Still getting no answer, she went up the stairs to the third level bedroom area. She stubbed her toe on one of the stairs, partly because a few oddments had managed to fall down the stairs. But when she entered Hiro's room, she saw things were a bit disheveled. She also noted Baymax's empty charging station.

With a shrug, she figured her nephew must have gone off to stay with friends, probably Fred, until she could get back. With a second backwards glance, she moved back to the second level where her room was. Despite lying in bed for hours on end, she did feel a little tired, and her head still hurt. She went into her room to lie down, hoping Hiro would be back soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this little chapter. It has to be one of my faves as far as writing goes.


	14. Explanation Please

Hiro breathed a sigh of relief as they safely made it back to Fred's place. After realizing they were being followed, Heathcliff, who happened to be driving, (Hiro didn't know why.) managed to lose them. It was quite a feat, especially since they were in what Hiro thought was the most obvious of cars. But he'd somehow done it.

The ride had been rather awkward, with everyone squished inside. Fred and his other friends had continued to glare at Jack, who looked less than comfortable. And no one had said anything. That was probably the worst part. And there was so much Hiro wanted to know, so many unanswered questions. He still didn't know why they hadn't told him about the genetic mutation. Was he going to sprout a third eye or something?

Safely at the manor, everyone seemed to relax a bit, until the Doctor gave Jack a very meaningful look. "All right, Jack," he said, getting down to business the moment they entered a spacious sitting room. "What've you gotten into and how does it relate to what's going on?"

Jack settled back on one of the sofas. He let out a sigh of contentment as he sank back into the cushions while the others situated themselves on various chairs and couches. Well, except for Baymax. He opted to stand near Hiro.

"A couple of days ago, we detected an unusual bit of space traffic entering earth's atmosphere," Jack began. "Seemed to come out of nowhere. The Crown was worried, so we were called in to investigate, what with all the recent threats and everything."

Rose leaned forward to speak to the San Fransokyo natives. "When he says Crown, he means the Queen of England," she whispered. "Jacks' part of an organization that tracks unusual alien activity."

The small group nodded in understanding, Hiro placing three fingers in his mouth, probably chewing on his nails. It was hard to tell, though.

"Upon further investigation," Jack continued, "we discovered a small tear in space, which is where we believe the asteroid came from. Before we could look further into that, however, the rip closed."

The Doctor nodded, glasses back on as he leaned forward, one elbow on his knee, that hand supporting his chin. Tears in space happened from time to time. They used to be closely monitored by the Time Lords, until most of them were wiped out. He hadn't detected that rip, but he was also apparently a bit late to this particular game.

"What about the asteroid?" the Time lord asked. It hadn't been all that long since an alien ship, masquerading as space junk, had paid earth a visit. That was right after he'd regenerated, of course. And he really doubted that particular race was stupid enough to send another ship to this part of space.

Jack shook his head. He knew about the incident, even though he'd not been there. "No life signs, but we did detect a large level of energy coming from within. Pretty sure we weren't the only ones who noticed it, though."

Honey, GoGo, Wasabi, and Fred exchanged glances. Baymax watched Hiro, who was now studying his feet.

Rose gave Jack a look. "What makes you think that?" she asked, pausing to accept a cup of tea. Heathcliff had brought in a teacart and had begun serving out cups.

Accepting a cup, Jack set his down on a nearby table. "We were tracking its movements when a missile came out of nowhere and knocked a good chunk off. Most of the debris fell over this area, so we packed up our bags and came to look into it."

The Doctor sipped his tea as the captain talked. "One question. Did you manage to track the trajectory of that missile?"

Jack looked a bit wary as he replied. "We did. We even sent men out there to investigate the launch site. It was somewhere in the Chinese mountain regions. But they didn't find much. Whoever fired that missile didn't want anyone to find out who they were or why they'd done it."

Hiro looked up from his daydreaming. The two had to be the same. There was no doubt in his mind that they were. It was too coincidental otherwise. Looking back at his toes, he felt his stomach give a little rumble.

"The energy in the resulting meteors transferred to the surface on impact, causing the isolated earthquakes," the Doctor realized, planting one fist in the palm of his other hand. "What wasn't transferred must have been lost in the atmosphere as they lost mass en route. It all makes sense!"

Rose looked at the Doctor, not sure where he was going with this. "What's the significance, then?"

Slowly, the Doctor rose from his seat, understanding dawning on his face. "That's why Hiro had those fits," he continued as though Rose hadn't spoken. "The energy was attracted to him because he'd been changed in the Rift!"

Jack looked up sharply at that comment. "Wait. Hiro was in the Rift? I mean I knew he went through a portal, but into the Rift? The Rift?"

"Yeah," the Doctor replied, raising his brows. "Into the void between time and space."

Rose cleared her throat, reminding him to get back to the point.

Taking the hint, the Doctor affected a cough. "So, the closer Hiro got to the falling meteors, the stronger the energy field, the stronger the connection." He stopped short, now halfway across the room. "No, that's not right. There's decidedly a telepathic link." He frowned as he thought about it some more.

GoGo glanced at Hiro, very aware of the boy genius's discomfort. They still hadn't explained to him why he hadn't been told of the genetic mutation. Not to mention that the Doctor hadn't really explained what that meant either.

"I've got it!" the Doctor all but yelled, causing everyone but Baymax to jump. "We've been looking at this the wrong way all along!"

"Looking at what, exactly?" Wasabi broke in. He had his arms folded in front of his chest as he contemplated the man, his gear making funny indentations in the leather sofa he sat on.

The Doctor all put pranced around the room. "Don't you see?"

"No," GoGo answered, interrupting his mad caper about the room as she stood to face him. "See what?"

Spreading his arms, the Doctor's face lit up even more. "It explains everything!"

Baymax watched the alien, blinking slowly. "I do not understand," he admitted.

The Doctor returned to his seat, all but bouncing with energy. "When Hiro entered the portal, he was exposed to the Rift," he recapped, waiting for the nods of everyone to make sure they were following his logic. "While inside, the atmosphere somehow changed his molecular structure, probably trying to make it more compatible with itself. That change made him act like a magnet for that kind of energy, the same kind of energy from the asteroid."

Wasabi didn't look convinced, but he nodded anyway. "With you so far, but aren't you basically saying the same thing as before?"

"Oh no, not at all." The Doctor shook his head. "Remember how I said there was some unknown entity forming a psychic connection with Hiro?"

The team of college students nodded. Hiro stared, having not heard this part before. "So now I'm psychic?"

The Time Lord shook his head. "Not you, specifically. The energy."

Jack looked like he was trying to put together a difficult puzzle as he filtered through the Doctor's words. "The energy isn't just any old energy," he said in understanding. "It's a living being."

"Exactly!" the Doctor exclaimed as he clapped his hands. "A living being trying to get home. Only, the closest thing to home is Hiro, because he was changed by the Rift! It's trying to use him as a vessel, possibly for communication."

GoGo's eyes went wide. "And Abigail Callaghan," she added. "She was also in the portal. And didn't you say there were two?" She looked directly at the Doctor.

"But what about Hiro's reaction to the energy?" Honey Lemon spoke up. She couldn't forget the cries of anguish from their friend, nor the other symptoms they'd witnessed.

That one stumped the Doctor for a moment and he leaned back against the cushions. "Hadn't thought about that."

"It's not perfect," Rose supplied. "Like different blood types."

Eyes widening, the Doctor sat back up. "An imperfect match! Yes! That has to be it." His eyes shown. "When we were in the TARDIS, the connection was more secure, but still not compatible, which is why Hiro lost consciousness after the initial linkup." He scrutinized the boy, making him squirm. "Or, maybe it realized they weren't entirely compatible and was holding back once it realized what was going on."

Hiro fidgeted, as everyone seemed to stare at him. The fantastic dinner he'd had suddenly didn't sit so well in his stomach.

"That still doesn't explain the missile, who's behind it, or what they want with a bunch of space metal," Jack spoke up. "I don't know about you, but I doubt whoever they are realizes that the energy in that asteroid is alive."

"Which begs to question," the Doctor continued for him, "just what do they plan on doing with it?"

GoGo was about to speak up when Hiro abruptly stood. The boy would wait no longer. It'd been a rough past few days and it looked like things weren't getting any better. "Excuse me," he managed before dashing out of the room, his face looking a little green.

Baymax blinked at the sudden change in behavior, but decided it would be best to follow him. "I will go check on him," he informed the surprised room, then shuffled after Hiro.

........................................

Hiro leaned weakly against the smooth porcelain of the guest bathroom. Luckily, it hadn't been too far away, or someone would have had a mess to clean up. He groaned as he let his body go limp. It had been a while since he'd last thrown up, a good couple of months. He didn't like it any more now than he had then.

"Hiro?"

The boy looked up at the open doorway, relaxing a bit as he saw Baymax leaning around the frame. "Hey buddy," he greeted, a bit gravely in voice. Then he promptly threw up again.

Baymax shuffled into the room. His vinyl rubbed against the counter as he tried to maneuver to a position where he could better observe his friend. "I do not detect any signs of infection," he informed.

"That's something," Hiro croaked when he could come up for air. "I think I ate too much." He leaned back against the wall of the half-bath, closing his eyes. "Can I just be done with this already?"

Baymax noted that Hiro's body temperature had dropped slightly, his respirations increasing due to the unusual exercise. "Your body has undergone a large amount of stress," he reasoned. "It is not unlikely that your body is reacting to that stress."

"Tell me something I don't know," Hiro moaned.

Meanwhile, back in the sitting room, the Doctor was glaring at Jack. "Please don't tell me you gave that boy alcohol," he admonished, remembering the empty sake cups on the table of that restaurant.

Jack affected an astonished look. "What? I already told you I didn't do anything to him!" he protested. "Okay," he amended at the continued glare, "I may have offered it to him. He refused. End of story."

The Doctor let out a sigh. "All right then. Back to business. What were you going to say before?" He'd noted that the man had been about to speak before Hiro's abrupt departure.

"I have a theory," Fred broke in, standing as he began to pace, his eyes narrowed as he gave an almost twisted smile. This was, after all, his area of expertise. "Those men GoGo told us about are part of a secret organization bent on taking over the world. They're harvesting the meteors to create the ultimate weapon of mass destruction."

Jack blinked at that, a little taken aback by Fred's sudden announcement. But then his expression changed. "You know," he pointed at the pacing man, "he makes a good point. My team was called into the area to investigate the potential threat of someone testing out a new weapon. We were securing the area when I came across Hiro."

"Makes sense," GoGo commented as she popped her gum. "You did say someone could use that space junk to make a weapon." She glanced at the Doctor.

Nodding, the Doctor rubbed at his chin. "True. I did say that. And it would make sense. The question is who." He glanced at Jack.

Jack held up his hands, palms facing outward. "I don't know any more than you do," he defended. "It was just a report from an unknown source. Better to be safe than sorry, right?"

"Oh yes," the Doctor nodded sagely. "Very much so."

Wasabi leaned forward. "So now what?" He was used to Hiro, or even GoGo, calling the shots. Without Hiro there, the team didn't feel complete.

"That," the Doctor said, "is a very good question."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And suddenly it all, hopefully, starts to make sense. Fingers crossed on that end. If not, hopefully it will for you later?


	15. Contact

Cass Hamada woke with a start. At first, she wasn't sure why she'd woken, but when the phone rang again, she realized why. "Hello?" she asked groggily, answering. "This is Cass Hamada. Mr. Krei?" She sat upright.

Mr. Krei's voice sounded concerned as she listened. "No, I haven't seen Hiro recently," she responded. "I haven't been home long, though. Did something happen?"

The businessman assured her he was just checking in, giving some lame excuse to want to talk to Hiro. The call didn't last long, but left the boy's aunt more than a little confused.

Unable to go back to sleep, Cass chose to head down to the café to assess the damage, hoping the insurance would cover everything.

........................................

Finally finished with his abdominal workout, Hiro shakily pushed up from the bathroom floor, using Baymax as a support until he regained his feet. "Thanks, buddy," he said almost absently.

"You need to stay hydrated," Baymax informed him. "I suggest drinking plenty of clear fluids until you are sure your stomach has adequately settled."

Hiro nodded. "Yeah, sure. I'll do that." He squeezed around the vinyl body of his friend, something that took more effort than he wanted to admit. Of course, part of it was because the room wasn't all that big to begin with.

Baymax followed him out of the room, a bit surprised when he didn't head back to the sitting room where the others were. Instead, the boy headed in the opposite direction. "Where are you going?" he inquired as he hurried to catch up.

"I need to think," Hiro responded.

Baymax made a mental note to make sure Hiro received some form of liquid before too long as he continued after him. Soon, it became obvious where he was headed, their center of operations. He watched as the boy headed towards the computer, ignoring everything else in the room. "I will need to charge soon," the robot spoke up, reminding him that they hadn't placed a second charging station at the manor yet. It was a plan in the works, but hadn't quite happened.

"Okay," Hiro responded as he sat down to type. Something Jack had said bothered him. What was it? Something about weapons. They'd been clearing the area because they'd heard someone was going to try testing some out in the area. Maybe if he looked hard enough, he could find out who they were.

..............................................

Officer Stanfield waited patiently off to one side while Alexander Thomas finished his business with another officer. "Sir," he saluted when the man's attention switched to the subordinate.

"What is it?" Thomas asked as he moved to check on a monitor. Progress was going slow, though not as slow as he'd expected. After all, he wasn't completely unreasonable. Just demanding.

Stanfield held out a slim phone in an evidence bag. "One of my men found this as we were sweeping the area where the fugitives disappeared. We believe it belongs to one of them."

Thomas's face lit up as he accepted the cell phone. "Excellent." With this, they should finally have a lead on who had interrupted their operation. He handed it back. "Take it to Tech and have them find out who owns it."

Stanfield saluted smartly, then turned on his heels.

A smile spread across the greasy-haired man's face. Finally, they were getting somewhere.

.........................................

After several hours of cleaning and inventorying the damage, Cass slumped into a chair with a sigh. She'd called in some of her usual employees to help out, and, between the three of them, they'd whipped the café back into shape. With luck, they'd be open again in the morning.

"Thanks for the help," Cass called out as her two helpers left through the front door. She'd have to remember to put a bonus in their next paycheck.

The little bell over the door rang and she looked up to see two men in business suits enter. "Sorry," she called out. "We're closed." She pointed to the sign still in the window.

"We're looking for someone," the taller of the two stated. "Hiro Hamada. He live here?"

Cass blinked a few times. She didn't know who these men were but felt certain they weren't the usual cop type. "May I ask why?" She'd dealt with her fair share of reporters and weirdoes when news had broken of her nephew's genius. Graduating high school at thirteen did that sometimes. She wasn't sure they were the same, but decided to be cautious.

The shorter man had his hands stuffed in his pockets. "We just need to talk to him. His name came up when we were searching for potential programmers."

Frowning, Cass moved to stare the two men in the face. "He's not here," she responded. "And no, I don't know where he is or when he'll be back."

"Too bad," the taller one said. Then he pulled out a business card. "When you see him, have him give us a call."

She accepted the card, a shiver running down her spine as her fingers brushed his. "I'll do that."

The two men nodded, then turned and left the café. As soon as they were out of sight, Cass threw the bolt and activated the alarm. It was dark out and she had no way of knowing if they'd come back or what they'd do if they did.

..............................................

After more fruitless conversation, the group at Fred's place decided to call it a night. Jack left to check in with his team, promising to return in the morning. The others headed back to their version of central command.

Opening the door to the spacious room, Wasabi spied Baymax near the computer. Hiro's mop of hair was visible over the top of the chair facing the screen.

Baymax turned as he heard the others enter the room. He held one finger to his non-existent lips and hushed them. "Hiro is sleeping," he informed in a whisper.

Only a few minutes had passed since Hiro had finally succumbed to slumber. Sure the boy was well into deep sleep, the robot gently lifted him from the chair and moved to place him on the cot.

"Poor lad," the Doctor commented, seeing the tired youth.

Fred yawned. "Maybe we should all follow his example," he reasoned. "Won't do anyone any good if we're all zombies."

"What he said," GoGo agreed, indicating Fred with a thumb.

With all in agreement, they dispersed to their various sleeping areas. Rose and the Doctor ducked into the TARDIS. The others went to their usual guest rooms to crash. Only Baymax remained to watch over the night.

......................................

Hiro knew he was dreaming. Everything had a surreal quality to it. The great thing was that he hadn't had to experience any mind-numbing pain before falling asleep. His subconscious self felt a sense of relief at that.

He was back on the island where they'd first set eyes on the portal's frame. He was alone, wearing normal clothes, no gear in sight. Walking around the corridors, he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched.

"Hello?" His voice echoed down the metal hallway. Getting no answer in return, he continued on, walking as cautiously as he could. His shoes occasionally made noises on the floor, but that was it.

Weak light shone from a room ahead and he almost hurried towards it before remembering caution. After several false starts, he finally made it to the door and peered inside. It was another control room, like the one overlooking the portal room. And it was just as empty. He went inside.

Another giant monitor glowed red with the Silent Sparrow logo. Hiro went to the control panel just under it and fiddled with the keyboard. At the touch of a few buttons, the screen lit up, only not with the expected split-screen cameras. Instead, he saw his friends' faces.

More than a little weirded out, Hiro took a step back, but stopped when Honey Lemon called out.

"Wait," Honey said, looking directly at the camera, or so he hoped. It almost looked like she, and the rest of the gang, were looking right at him. "Don't go, Hiro. We need your help."

Hiro shook his head as if to clear his vision. "My help?"

Everyone on the screen nodded, except for Baymax, who remained still. "That's right," GoGo answered. "You're the only one who can hear us. We tried with the other one, but the connection isn't as strong. She misunderstood."

Thinking through things at a million miles a minute, Hiro's eyes widened. "You're that energy entity the Doctor was talking about."

Again, they all nodded, though their expressions mirrored the sadness he'd seen on his friends' faces from that one video they'd sent after Tadashi's death. It made his chest tighten. "I don't' understand," he admitted. "Were those other dreams you too? And if they were, why isn't this one the same?"

Wasabi's image looked ashamed. "We'd never contacted anyone outside out own before. We didn't know how to talk to you. And then there was so much pain. We were under attack and it hurt."

"Yeah, man," Fred spoke up. "It was a real bummer. At first, it wasn't too bad, but then we got separated. We'd never had that happen before. Then this giant missile crashed into us and that really hurt."

"I was feeling your pain," Hiro realized. Finding a chair, he sank into it.

GoGo shook her head. "It wasn't just our pain," she explained. "It was also yours. We tried to not touch that pain but our own resonated with it."

"We regret any distress we may have caused," Baymax spoke up. "We did not mean to cause any you harm."

The boy shook his head. "How could that have been my pain? I wasn't hurt."

Honey continued to look sad, mixed in with a little worry. "Not that kind of pain," she responded. "That which was internal manifested externally. We were drawn to that pain because it mirrored our own. We, too, are lost."

Hiro waved his hands to cut them off. "Wait. I'm not lost," he protested. "I know exactly where I am."

Instead of getting a verbal reply, the image on the screen changed. Hiro's breath caught in his throat as an image of the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology's auditorium replaced the image of his friends. The fire was already roaring as he reached out to hold his brother back from entering the building. "Tadashi, no," he heard himself say.

Like before, his brother gave him a determined look, mixed with perhaps some fear. "Callaghan's still in there," he said. "Someone has to help." Then he watched his brother dash back into the building, his hat billowing back on a draft towards him.

Hiro watched himself pick up the hat, and then look up as the building exploded in a fiery inferno of death. He saw the repercussions send his body flying back onto the pavement as he continued to call out his brother's name.

The image changed again, merging to show the warehouse where his stolen microbots were being mass-produced. He witnessed his own fear and confusion to the operation, along with the adrenaline-fueled chase by the man in the mask, Yokai, as he'd been called at the time.

Changing again, the screen showed him inside the facility on the island as he confronted the man with the mask, realizing it was Professor Callaghan. He saw the betrayal clearly marked on his face as he realized that the professor had not only stolen his work, but hadn't cared that he'd also stolen his brother's life.

Then he watched himself as he lost it, ordering Baymax to destroy the professor. Hot shame burned through him at the memory. He still wasn't sure if he was trying to avenge Tadashi's death, or just get even by taking the man's life. He rather thought it was the later. Anger had boiled within him at that meeting. If only the man had shown some remorse instead of blaming Tadashi for his own demise.

The image shifted once more, showing the inside of the portal as he pled with Baymax to let him find another way to save them all. He'd known, deep down, that there wasn't time, but he still wanted the chance to try.

Tears leaked out of Hiro's eyes as he watched his friend send him home with the capsule, Baymax floating further and further away as inertia took over. It didn't matter that he'd been able to rebuild Baymax's body. It was a miracle that the robot had somehow left him his programming through his chip. All the same, part of him felt like he'd let his friend down, like he'd somehow betrayed him, just like he felt he'd somehow betrayed Tadashi by not stopping him from entering that burning building.

"You are lost," Baymax said as the screen once more showed all of his friends. "You are in pain."

GoGo reached out a hand as if to ruffle his hair, or simply touch his shoulder, but couldn't because of the screen. "Help us, Hiro. Help us so we can help you."

The screen crackled with static, then went dead. Hiro jumped from his chair, running towards the console. "No! No!" Come back!" He rapidly typed in commands, then slammed his fists against the keyboard when nothing happened.

Resting his head against the smooth panel, tears leaked from his eyes, coating the surface as he sobbed. "Help me," he called out as he slid to the ground. Then everything went black.

....................................

Krei's personal assistant scanned through the report one of the security personnel had given her. She gave a non-committal nod to the man who had given her the report, then dismissed him. Information in hand, she entered Krei's office and handed him the report.

Despite the late hour, Alistair Krei couldn't leave matters be. He frowned, however, as he read the report given him. The more he read, the wider his eyes got. "Is this accurate?" he finally asked as he set the file down on his desk.

He'd been preoccupied with finding Hiro, especially after he'd learned that his aunt hadn't seen him, nor did she know where he was. But this put all that to the back burner.

Ms. Smith nodded. "It's been confirmed. We've seen similar plans crop up on the Black Market. There's no doubt at least one set was purchased by a hostile group."

Krei slammed a fist onto his desk, scattering papers. "How did this happen?"

Well aware of what her boss meant, Ms. Smith only remained stone-faced, as usual. The plans had gone missing some months ago, along with one of the key engineers behind the project. This had all happened at about the same time as the portal incident and had quickly been hushed up. Krei Tech didn't need any more negative publicity.

But now, with those plans confirmed to be on the market? That changed things.

"Do we know who bought them?" He gave his assistant a hopeful look, which was quickly dashed as she shook her head. "Have them keep digging," he ordered. "I want to know who stole our tech and what they plan on doing with it." One incident was more than enough to have on his hands.


	16. Business Card

Hiro woke to dim lighting and hushed conversation. Groggily, he sat up, realizing he must have fallen asleep at the computer the night before. He didn't remember crawling into bed.

Honey Lemon looked up from her worktable, which had been cleared to accommodate a large tray of breakfast foods. She put down her cup of coffee upon seeing that Hiro was awake. "Sorry," she apologized. "Did we wake you?"

GoGo munched on some toast while Fred and Wasabi worked on sausage and eggs. "Morning," she greeted.

Barefoot, Hiro went to join them, yawning. "Morning," he returned as he pulled the wheelie chair to the table and flopped into it.

"Hey, little fellow," Fred called out from the other side of the table. "Sorry if we got too loud. Baymax said you didn't sleep all that well last night so we figured we'd let you sleep in a little."

"Good morning, Hiro," Baymax greeted as he hovered nearby. "I noticed you tossed and turned a lot in your sleep," he informed. "I do not believe you received the requisite amount of REM sleep."

Giving a little wave, Hiro picked up a clean fork and speared a fried egg from the tray. "Yeah," he admitted. "I had some really weird dreams, though."

GoGo nodded. "We were just talking about heading back to the café when you got up. Jack and the others said they'd meet us there around nine."

Hiro glanced around for a clock, since he didn't seem to have his phone on him. He couldn't remember where he'd left the cell, though, and that bothered him.

"We have about an hour," Honey assured him. "But we should leave soon. I think Baymax needs a recharge."

Looking more closely at his robotic friend, Hiro realized Honey was right, forgetting that Baymax had informed him of this only last night. The robot seemed less inflated than usual, though Hiro was a bit surprised that he hadn't started acting drunk yet. "Yeah," he said again, wishing for a clean change of clothes as well. And a toothbrush.

"So, as soon as you're ready," Wasabi spoke up, "we'll be off. We've already got our gear stowed in the car for easier transport. Heathcliff somehow managed to retrieve my van, so we're all set there."

Hiro stuffed his mouth with eggs, slowing down at the looks on his friends' faces. It wouldn't do to make a mad dash to the bathroom a necessity again. He definitely didn't want a repeat of that, but he felt so hungry. "Sounds good," he agreed, once his mouth was empty again. He wanted to check on some of the gear anyway, and that would be easier done back in his garage.

.........................................

The breakfast rush was just slowing down when Cass Hamada thought she saw Hiro and his friends pull around back in Wasabi's van. She stared for a moment, peering out the window before the customer she'd been helping cleared his throat to regain her attention.

She apologized for the distraction, took his order, and handed the slip to the woman behind the counter. "I'll be right back," she told her employee as she tried to look towards the back area where the private entrance led to the upper level.

Seeing her distraction, her helper nodded for her to check on things, knowing she was hoping her nephew would soon drop in.

It took a few minutes for Cass to maker her way back to the stairs. Many regulars wanted to say hello or congratulate her on reopening so soon after the quakes. Finally, she made her way to the back area.

Smoothing her half apron, she felt the business card from those men in black. The same chill as before ran down her back and she took a quick look towards the busy café floor, just to be safe. Sure those men hadn't returned, she headed up the stairs.

.......................................

The Doctor and his team met up with Hiro and the others just outside the garage of Hiro's home. Feeling that it would be unwise to bring the TARDIS so close to an area previously compromised, they'd opted to leave it at the manor. At least for now.

Wasabi supported a rather giddy sounding Baymax out of the van and up the stairs, Hiro leading the way. Deciding it would be better to not bring everyone to his room, the boy had them wait on the second floor while he ran for Baymax's charging station upstairs.

"Not a bad layout," Rose observed as she checked out the living area. "It's got some nice décor. Mum could sure learn from this."

Hiro returned with the case and plugged it in. after some prompting, and encouragement, he was able to get Baymax onto the charging station.

Fred slouched back onto the couch. "Man, wasn't that something? I never knew Baymax could act like a drunk. Remind me never to buy him alcohol."

GoGo shook her head. Even if Fred did buy the robot a drink, there was no way he could drink it. "So, now what?"

Her question went unanswered as footsteps sounded on the stairs. "Hiro?" Aunt Cass called out. "Is that you?"

Giving a somewhat guilty look, Hiro moved towards the stairs. "That's right," he responded. "I'm here with a few friends." He gave a nervous grin, wondering what she'd think of the addition of two older men and a woman.

The footsteps picked up speed as Cass rushed up the last few stairs. Seeing her nephew, she rushed towards him, enveloping him in a hug. "Are you okay? Tell me you're okay."

Cheeks turning a bit red, Hiro awkwardly tried to hug her back. It was hard, as she'd inadvertently pinned his arms to his sides. "I'm okay," he managed, swallowing a lump in his throat.

"Let me look at you," Cass said, pulling back. Her eyes shown with moisture. "Where have you been? You look like death warmed over. Did you get enough to eat while you were gone? Did you get enough sleep?" she asked in a rush.

With her hands now on his shoulders, Hiro looked to the ground. "I'm fine. I crashed at Fred's place. Wasn't sure when you'd be back."

Hearing Fred's name, Cass glanced up to see his friends, failing to realize there were a few additions to the usual party. Her eyes narrowing, she grabbed his ear, making him wince. "Why didn't you call? I've been worried sick! No note. Nothing! For all I knew, you were stuck somewhere, alone and hurt!"

Hiro tried to pull away from his aunt's iron grip, but couldn't. "Ow! Ow!"

Jack cleared his throat, stepping forward. "Good morning," he greeted, giving her one of his most charming smiles. "I'm Captain Harkness. Jack, if you prefer." He took her free hand and kissed it.

Cass blinked, her cheeks blushing as she dropped her hand from Hiro's ear. "Cass," she responded in half a daze. "Cass Hamada. I'm Hiro's aunt."

"Really, Jack?" the Doctor mouthed as he rolled his eyes.

Jack slowly released Cass's hand as he looked over at the Time Lord. "What? Someone had to diffuse the situation."

Hiro rubbed at his reddened ear. Despite his call of "Ow", Baymax remained in his charger. "I was going to call you," he said, not sure how she'd react. "But I lost my phone."

His words pricked a memory and his aunt frantically searched her apron pocket for the card. "Speaking of calling, two men came by last night. They said they wanted you to call them at this number. I did think it a bit odd, though. They were wearing all black." She handed the card over.

"Men in black?" Hiro took the card with some misgivings. Hadn't those men who'd shot at them worn black? Not to mention the two who'd tried following the limo.

Cass gave an odd look. "Yeah. They dropped by really late last night. They said they needed to talk to you about something. Oh, and Mr. Krei also called looking for you."

Turning the card over in his hand, Hiro didn't even look up. "Alistair Krei?"

"Come to think of it," Cass continued, "they all wondered where you were at the time."

Hiro's friends exchanged glances. Krei might only want to check in on them, or offer up some deal. The men in black, on the other hand, were far more suspicious.

The café door jangled from the below in the momentary silence as Cass noted the presence of two more people. "Are you going to introduce me to your other friends?" She gave Jack a shy smile.

Breaking free from dark thoughts, Hiro took a few steps towards the time traveling pair. "This is Doctor…. Smith," he improvised. "And his assistant, Rose Tyler. Their on fellowship at the Institute and wanted to know more about my project. I told them I'd left some of my stuff here, and they wanted to see my whole process, so I figured it would be okay."

Cass looked pleased at that idea. "You know," she commented, "Hiro really is a genius. It's not always been easy raising him. He knows more than I do."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, he is quite the exceptional young man," he agreed. "I'm sure he'll go far. No one can say you haven't done an excellent job raising him."

Hiro's aunt all but beamed. "All right, then. I guess I'll leave you to it. Dinner's at seven." She turned to go.

Hiro rushed to give her a hug. "Thanks. We might just go out to eat. We only dropped by to get a few things."

A bit surprised, Cass hugged him back. "Okay, but don't stay out too late. I want you home at a decent hour. I'm so proud of you!" She gave him one more squeeze before heading back down the stairs.

Hiro slumped into the nearest seat as soon as she was out of sight. "Whew. That was close," he said under his breath. "I hope you don't mind me giving you a pseudonym," he apologized to the Doctor. "Aunt Cass might ask questions otherwise."

Giving a dismissing wave, the Doctor leaned against the kitchen counter. "Nah. I've gone by Smith before. Easier that way. Nice cover story, by the way."

"Yeah," Hiro replied, covering his eyes with one hand. "I don't like lying to her, but I also want to keep her safe."

Lips pursed, the Doctor nodded. "Oh the double life of a hero." He seemed to pep up a bit as he pushed away from the counter. "Now what about that contact card? May I have a look?"

Hiro handed him the card while the others looked on. "It's pretty plain," he said, indicating the phone number and generic name printed on it.

"I don't know about you," Fred spoke up, "but I wouldn't trust that number. I mean, you heard what she said. Men in black, and all that. Sounds like a super villain's minion to me."

GoGo popped her gum. "For once, I agree with Fred. Maybe they found you because they found your phone," she reasoned.

Honey Lemon resisted the urge to fidget. "But we won't know for sure unless we at least look it up."

Hiro glanced over at Baymax. "You fully charged, buddy?"

The robot had re-inflated while they'd talked. "My battery is currently at fifty percent capacity," he announced. Thanks to Hiro's improved design, Baymax had a larger capacity battery, but it still took time to charge, especially when low.

Wasabi glanced at the clock. "We can always move his charger to the garage," he pointed out. "That way he can charge while we sort things out with our gear and everything else."

"Good idea," Hiro agreed. "Just let me change and brush my teeth."

..........................................

The exoskeletons gleamed from their orderly line. Though not one hundred percent complete, at least six of them functioned. And that was more than enough to test them out on the streets.

Alexander Thomas nodded in satisfaction. He felt lucky to have Kim, a former employee of Krei Tech, at his side. Without her, this wouldn't have been possible. It was, without a doubt, wonderful that he'd found her soon after she'd chosen to leave the company.

"Let's get those six on the truck," Thomas ordered. "I want them ready to roll by five tonight."

Several techs rushed to obey. With a little more work, those six machines would be more than ready for a street test, especially since Kim would continue working on them until the moment they were unleashed on the city.

....................................

"Okay," Hiro breathed, cracking his knuckles. "Moment of truth." He typed in the number from the business card. With luck, the Doctor's little modifications would keep anyone sitting on the file from figuring out where the inquiry came from. With the crazy dreams he'd had, Hiro felt more than justified in being a little paranoid.

Rubbing at the bruise on his leg, Hiro hit the enter key, telling his computer to begin the search. Not using the typical search engine, the compute ran through a rapid-fire succession of data. "Guess I'll just let it run," he said as he pushed away from the desk, his wheelie chair sliding across the cement floor.

"Hiro," GoGo called out. "Hold on a moment." She'd noticed that the boy had opted to wear long pants instead of the typical khaki shorts. It made it difficult to see his usually bare legs. When he paused, she moved in to push the fabric up enough to reveal his previous injury, which was no longer covered with any type of bandage.

Honey almost gasped at the massive bruise on Hiro's leg. "Does it hurt?" she asked, noting the deep purple and blue color near the middle.

The boy blinked as he looked down at his leg. "It's not that bad," he hedged. It was easier to ignore when he wasn't thinking about it. "What about your arm?" He glanced at GoGo.

"Good as new," the adrenaline junkie replied, flexing her muscle. The bullet graze was still a bit tender, but she'd had worse road rash before. "But you should probably elevate that," she admonished, pointing to his leg. She knew full well that someone had to say it or he'd simply continue to ignore it.

"GoGo is correct," Baymax spoke up from his charging station. "Your leg appears to be swollen. I recommend applying ice."

With a roll of his eyes, Hiro dismissed the notion. "I'm fine," he reemphasized. "Really."

Fred frowned at him. "Better rest now than crutches later," he said. "I once read about this girl who got a really bad bruise and didn't take care of it. It just kept getting worse and worse because she kept banging into things."

Wasabi frowned. "You sure that was a real story?"

"It was fan fiction," Fred retorted as he folded his arms. "Great story. You should read some sometimes. It was about this girl who lived with vampire brothers and-"

"As fun as that sounds," the Doctor interrupted, "we might want to save that for a later date." He nodded at the computer monitor. "Looks like we found something."

Hiro pushed off from the far worktable, sending his chair back across the floor. He came to a bit of an abrupt stop as the wheels hit some debris, sending it off course. His leg hit into the desk and he sucked in his breath, trying not to call out in pain.

Baymax stepped free of his charger, politely passing those who were in the way. He turned the chair and picked up Hiro before he could protest. Boy in his arms, he shuffled towards the old couch pushed into the back corner, where he sat Hiro down. "Please remain still while I scan you for further injuries."

While the robot was doing his thing, Jack slid into the vacated chair, Rose leaning over her shoulder. "Looks like we've got several dummy corporations," he announced, wincing as Hiro cried out when Baymax prodded his leg.

The Doctor peered over both time travelers to look. "Any you've heard about?" He wasn't sure he'd heard of any of the names on the screen, but that wasn't saying much. They could be codes, anagrams, or just a bunch of rubbish to throw them off track.

Jack typed in a few more commands. "I'd say they're using several satellites to bounce the signal around. Whoever they are, they're good. I've found at least thirty different relay points so far."

While the three were busy at the computer, Honey ran to get some ice from the kitchen. Wasabi pulled out his gear and began inspecting it, making sure everything was as finely tuned as possible. One never knew when they might need to suit up again.

GoGo watched Baymax as he finished his examination. "Don't make me sit on you," she said as Hiro continued to protest. "Because I will."

More than a little put out, Hiro slumped back against the cushions, arms folded. It wasn't often that his friends tag-teamed against him, but he knew when to back down. He didn't like it, but there really wasn't much choice, especially if he wanted to continue the façade that all was well.

"Got something," Jack called out. He typed a few more keys on the keyboard. "Well, isn't that something?"

Wasabi crowded in behind the Doctor and Rose. "What? What did you find?"

"A little room please," Fred requested as he too tried to crowd in to see the monitor.

Jack leaned back in the chair, his expression almost awed. "You'll never believe this," he stated. "But it looks like whoever owns this number is pretty local. No more than a hundred or so kilometers outside the city." He ran a hand through his hair as he contemplated this development.

"Now that is something," the Doctor responded as he contemplated the data. "It's like hiding a needle in the haystack in the least likely place imaginable."

Rose was about to correct him on his metaphor but chose to just shake her head instead. "All right, then. Where exactly is it?"

Still typing in commands, Jack somehow pulled up a government satellite feed. "Just let me zoom in a bit," he requested as he input the necessary commands.

The screen lit up as the view rushed in onto a point more inland. "I don't see anything that tells us who they are," he admitted, "but it looks like they're up to something. I see some heavy-duty activity going on, and a semi. Looks like they're getting ready to transport something."

Hiro all but jumped up from his seat, bumping into Honey as she returned with the ice. He rushed to the computer and looked at the image. "That's not good," he commented as he watched the ant-like people moving around in the trees. He looked at Jack, then back at the screen, wondering if he could convince the man to give him the access codes to that satellite. It would definitely make life easier.

"We still don't know what they're doing," Wasabi pointed out. "Or where they're going. Maybe they're headed away from town or something."

The Doctor raised his brows at the hero. "Would you bet your life on it?"

"Say what?" Wasabi pulled back.

"I asked if you'd bet your life on that," the Doctor replied seriously. "None of this is coincidental. It all has to be connected. The question is how." He glanced at Jack. "May I?"

Jack moved back from the keyboard. "Be my guest."

Inputting new search perimeters, the Doctor clicked away. A popup window opened, scrolling data, which he scrutinized carefully. "Just as I thought," he said, pulling back. "Scans indicate they're using the same metal found in that asteroid. These are our men."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I admit, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Seeing Jack in action, even just mildly, was kind of fun to write.


	17. Showtime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus chapter because I'm celebrating the Fourth of July. Enjoy!

The morning seemed to melt away as the Big Heroes prepared their tools of the trade. Because of their recent activities, most of their equipment needed a little tuning up. That and Honey's chemical purse needed a refill.

Baymax monitored Hiro closely as the boy wheeled around the garage, making sure he iced his bruise at least once an hour. He'd almost had Hiro promise to wear a light compression brace, to help reduce the potential of further injury. The boy didn't like it, but he saw the wisdom in it.

Several hours passed, including the lunch hour. Their gear was as ready as they could make it. Jack had come and gone a few times to check in with his men. Rose and the Doctor helped out where they could, including backing up Baymax about having the various members of the team rest. A few had protested, Hiro included, but they'd remained firm. While they napped, Rose went out to find a brace for the injured boy.

.................................................

The truck began to move. Alexander Thomas looked out the rear-view mirror with a sense of excitement. Finally, the time had come. The moment of truth was coming, and he already knew how it would turn out.

If everything went according to plan, he would have the exoskeletons mass-produced and sent out to the various parts of the world. When the time was right, they'd unleash them on the most populated areas. No one would be able to stop them.

The small convey was as nondescript as they could make it. The cars were plain sedans, black, of course. And the semi trailer looked like any other trailer hauling junk. They'd go in stages, each keeping enough distance from the others to keep the illusion that they weren't related. Or so they hoped.

Inside the trailer, Kim and her team continued to work on the machines, making sure they were as battle ready as possible. Their pilots waited in a white mini van that followed behind.

Using back roads, Thomas hoped to be less conspicuous. It would take more time, but would also ensure they were less likely to draw attention. Besides, the route had been carefully mapped out in advance, making sure to use roads typically used by truckers, just to be safe.

Thomas cracked his knuckles while the driver focused on the road. It was only a matter of time before they could come out of the shadows and claim their rightful chunk of the planet. Soon, everyone would know their name.

...........................................

The hour hand crept forward and Hiro dozed. He hadn't meant to, but with all they could do already done, well... that was life. Sleeping in armor wasn't the most comfortable, but at least the old sofa was cozy.

Wasabi took up residence on the wheelie chair, making a few last minute adjustments to his plasma blades. Looking up at the computer, he almost did a double take. "Uh, guys," he called out uncertainly, "I think we have a problem."

Hearing his voice, Hiro woke from his dreamless nap. "Wha? Huh?" He rubbed at his eyes. "What's going on?"

Both Honey Lemon and GoGo walked over to Wasabi, wondering what he meant. GoGo's eyes widened when she looked at the screen. The satellite feed had changed. "Hiro," she said, her tone higher pitched than normal. "You might want to look at this."

Wincing a bit, Hiro made his way over to the computer, Wasabi vacating the chair so he could sit. "What the? When did that happen?"

The semi they'd been monitoring was gone, as were the other vehicles. It almost looked abandoned. "They're on the move," Hiro realized. "Did any of you see which way they went?"

He turned to face his team, realizing four were missing, Jack, Fred, the Doctor, and Rose. The lizard suit sat empty next to the holographic computer.

Seeing his confusion, Honey put one hand on his shoulder. "Jack hasn't come back yet. I think he's still with his men. Fred and the others went after some food."

They'd agreed that raiding the kitchen again wasn't a good idea. Not with Cass home. They couldn't risk it.

Hiro turned back to the computer, widening the field as he had the camera zoom out. But there was nothing to see. The truck was gone.

The boy slammed one fist on the table. "No!" he said in denial. "This can't be happening!" He looked towards Baymax's case, a little surprised to see the robot deactivated. "Who did that?" he asked, pointing at the red box.

GoGo popped her gum. "I did," she replied. She'd had a feeling it would be a good idea to make sure the robot had time to fully charge, without worrying about other things. She knew he'd stay as close to Hiro as possible otherwise.

"Why'd you do that?!" Hiro scowled. "We need him ready to go at a moment's notice! He should already be in his armor!"

Wasabi put up a restraining hand. "Hey, just calm down a bit, okay? Baymax needed a little downtime, just like the rest of us."

Hiro counted to ten in his head. He knew he was being unreasonable. Wasabi was right. Baymax had been going for over forty-eight hours strong. His actuators and other parts probably had needed the break. All the same...

"Ow."

The red case unfolded, the white vinyl instantly inflating as the robot activated. "Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion." He blinked as his cameras focused on the faces around him. "Has something changed since I was deactivated?"

Hiro jabbed a finger at the computer screen. "That. They're on the move. Time to suit up, buddy."

At that moment, the garage door opened and Fred, the Doctor, and Rose walked into view. "Found some burgers," Fred announced, pausing as he saw the looks on his friends' faces. "Something happen?"

"You could say that," GoGo returned. "The semi's gone. We don't know when or where it went."

Rose moved into the garage, setting down paper bags of food on the worktable. "Let me call Jack," she offered, pulling out her phone. "Maybe he knows where it went." She wouldn't put it past him if he were tracking the truck at that moment.

While she tried to contact the captain, the Doctor began handing out drinks. "Hope everyone's okay with coke," he said. "There weren't that many choices." They had been out of tea of any kind, much to his chagrin.

Hiro welcomed the caffeine. It made him feel more awake. He took a burger from one of the bags and began to eat. As much as he'd love to just fly out on Baymax, that wasn't feasible. They didn't have enough information for the robot to use in finding them. He hated to admit it, but they had to wait for Jack.

Following Hiro's example, the others took a burger as well. Until they knew just what was going on, it was better to try and stay calm. Rushing headlong never helped anyone. They'd learned that the hard way.

............................................

Ms. Smith set her clipboard down as she stared at the monitor in her office. At a moment's notice, the screen could pop back into the wall, with no one the wiser. For now, however, she intently scanned through the data.

Krei paid her a lot of money to stay on top of things. Her other employer paid even more, and they had cooler toys.

She tapped out a command on the keyboard and the camera zoomed in on the location in question. She'd been monitoring it for the last several hours. If it hadn't been for the fact that she'd had to attend a meeting with her boss, she would have seen exactly what had happened in her absence. But since she hadn't, she had to scroll back through the data, watching recorded images to sort through what had happened.

System data told her someone else had logged into the satellite imagery. A quick check told her exactly who, and she raised a brow at that. What was he doing in the States? She'd have to look into that later. If worse came to worse, there were ways of tracking him down to ask.

Finally coming on the information she wanted, she quickly scribbled something on a piece of paper, fast-forwarding the recording to try and track the vehicle. When the party separated, she decided it wasn't worth the time to track them all. The semi was the most pressing target, so she continued to follow its progress across the back roads. When she realized which direction it was heading, she almost let her carefully neutral expression slip.

............................................

Rose hung up the phone. "Jack says he's on his way. Apparently he already knows the truck moved," she announced. Looking to see if any food was left, she settled for some fries. They weren't authentic chips, but they'd do. "He said to stay put for now."

Having already finished his food, Hiro was in the process of helping Baymax into his armor. It was a bit of a drawn out process, as he had to practically stuff the robot into the suit. With practice, it had become easier, but he still had to fight against the vinyl belly.

With one final push, the boy got the last piece in place, wishing he'd taken up Wasabi's advice for help. He hadn't though, simply because he wanted something to do. He sucked in his breath, resisting the urge to nurse his leg. It still hurt, a lot. But he didn't want the others to know that. Part of him wondered if he could fly on Baymax without constantly knocking it against the hard, red surface.

The Doctor twirled his sonic screwdriver. They'd offered to quickly make some kind of weapon for him, but he'd refused. "I don't believe in weapons," he'd told them, which raised a brow from Rose. It was true he didn't like them, but sometimes he'd had to use some kind of improvised version of one. After all, weapons came in many forms.

Blue light shimmered in the middle of the garage, Jack appearing in the middle. Once fully formed, he closed the device on his wrist before looking around. "I've got some good news and some bad news," he announced to the room.

Everyone seemed to stop what they were doing and stared at the space captain. Fred had his burger halfway to his mouth. Rose was in the middle of sipping her soda.

The Doctor pocketed his screwdriver as he pushed away from the worktable. "Care to share your news with the class?" he asked when Jack didn't immediately follow with the information.

Clearing his throat, Jack moved closer to the group near the computer. "The good news is we've located the truck. The bad news is it's already in the City. I've got a few men keeping tabs on it, but it almost seems like they're waiting for something. We still don't know what's inside. Scans indicate something mechanical."

"What are we waiting for?" Fred asked, popping the last bite of burger into his mouth. "Let's go and take them out!"

Jack held up a hand. "Not so fast," he admonished the eager fan boy. "I don't like going in blind, especially not when there are too many unknown factors." He looked directly towards the greatest concentration of college students. "No offense, but I don't really know what all you're capable of. My gut tells me to just leave you guys here."

GoGo glared. "Not a chance," she said, conveying all of the Big Heroes' thoughts on the matter. "They messed with our city. They messed with Hiro. We're not backing down."

"What she said," Fred agreed. "You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us."

Only Hiro seemed to have some misgivings, though he didn't voice them. He felt slightly unsettled about everything. Something was off. But he couldn't forget the plea from his dream. Help us, Hiro. He wasn't sure how to do that just yet, but he'd figure it out.

Glancing at their determined faces, the Doctor took a big breath. "Oh, let them be," he admonished Jack. "They'll come one way or another. Better to let it happen than to invite further chaos. Less people get hurt that way."

"We're going either way," Hiro confirmed. "We can't stand by while innocent people get hurt, not when we can do something about it."

Jack looked into Hiro's eyes. What he saw there shook him just a little. There were things there that didn't belong in a fourteen-year-old's eyes. "All right," he ceded. "But you're to follow either my or the Doctor's lead. We've both seen far more combat than any of you. Agreed?"

All of Hiro's team nodded. It was hard to deny the air of authority the man held. They would see how things went once they got there, anyway.

"We should get into position soon," Hiro spoke up. "We can fly part of the way, staying low. Then we'll walk the rest of the way in. We don't know if they're using some kind of sensors to detect possible resistance. Better safe than sorry."

The Doctor gave Jack a wry look, almost as if he were saying, "See? What did I tell you?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Fair enough. But I want you all to patch into this frequency so we can stay in contact." He rattled off some numbers.

Hiro made the necessary adjustments to their gear, making a mental note to include a multi-band radio in the next upgrade. He still wanted to talk to his team without others listening in, and there was no guarantee that this would be the only time they partnered up with others.

"This is so exciting," Fred announced as he dove into his suit, more than ready to kick some super villain butt.

..............................

"All suits are operational," Kim announced over her headset. They'd finished the last bit only minutes earlier. Now they just need the pilots to slip inside and they'd be ready to go in no time.

Thomas's voice crackled over the radio as he acknowledged the report. He'd opted to observe from a safe location. After all, it wouldn't do to lose the man in charge due to something going wrong. "Have them suit up," he ordered.

Kim gave a nod to the six pilots, who stepped into the exoskeletons. Pre-flight would take a few minutes, but they still had time before the appointed deadline.

..............................

The coordinates Jack gave Hiro led to a more abandoned, industrial section of town. More out of the way, it offered the perfect place to test out new technology, without too many knowing about it.

Baymax flew the team to within two miles of the location. From there, they walked the rest of the way. Jack had insisted on marking them each with some kind of tracking dot, just to be safe. Hiro thought it a bit excessive, but went with it. He'd managed to patch into the tracking program so he could see exactly where his team members were as well.

"Almost there," the boy leader whispered as the group split into teams.

Wasabi and GoGo went off to join one of Jack's divisions on the far side. Honey Lemon and Fred moved off to join another. Hiro and Baymax joined the main group, where Jack, Rose, and the Doctor were.

Hiro rather thought all three adults just wanted to keep an eye on him, and felt a bit resentful because of it. But, if he looked at it from a different angle, it was also a bit of a compliment to him as the leader of his team.

Baymax insisted the boy ride on his back, instead of just walking next to him. He could move him to safety faster that way. That, and he could make sure the boy wasn't overdoing things.

"Maintain positions," Jack's voice called over the headset. "No activity yet, but stay on your toes."

Baymax turned his head to look at Hiro. "Are you certain you should not remain out of the line of fire?" His scan of the boy indicated elevated pulse and respiration, along with high enough pain levels that most wouldn't be able to ignore it.

"Not a chance," Hiro replied. Despite taking something to at least dull the pain, his bruise throbbed, as did his head. But he wasn't going to let that stop him. He had an obligation.

The robot blinked, turning back to face the front. "If your vital signs exceed acceptable parameters, I will return you to the Manor," he announced.

Shaking his head, Hiro resisted the urge to countermand that, feeling sure one of the adults had requested it. "I'm fine," he insisted. "It'll all work out." He just hoped that was true. His current track record, at least for the week, said differently.

...........................

The minute hand moved, pointing straight at the twelve. Alexander Thomas lowered his pocket watch. "Begin test," he called over the radio. "Repeat: Begin test. Let's see what these things can do."

Loud clangs sounded as two men in black fatigues ran to open the semi's cargo doors. Another pulled a ram from the underbelly, locking it in place. Everything ready, they backed away from the truck, keeping their backs facing away, like they were more worried about what was inside than what was outside it.


	18. Burning

Jack pressed his infrared goggles to his eyes as he scanned the area. "We've got activity," he announced over his headset. "Looks like three men. No. Wait. Something's coming out."

Everyone seemed to be holding a collective breath as more strange sounds came from the truck. They were loud, metallic, and followed a decided pattern.

Hiro leaned forward on Baymax's shoulder to better hear. "Sounds like footsteps," he commented.

The ramp rattled and a robotic foot settled briefly on the top, followed by a second one. An almost ovoid shape appeared, with jointed arms and legs coming from the sides. They were sleek, decidedly metallic, with exoglass allowing the man inside to see out.

The boy's pulse quickened at the sight. Everything in him screamed to run. "What is that thing?"

Fred's calm voice came over the radio. "I've seen those things before," he said. "They're like a second skin, only metal. In Blades of War, they called them exosuits."

"Exoskeletons," the Doctor breathed, half in awe. "Not good. Let's hope their pilots don't know how to use them yet."

The robotic creatures continued to descent the ramp until all six of them stood firmly on the ground. Hyper-spectral cameras lined the sides and back of each unit, giving the pilot an instant feed of what was going on in the blind spots. And each pilot wore some kind of headgear, though Hiro wasn't sure what for just yet. He couldn't get a good look, even when he squinted.

Energy seemed to buzz in the air, making the air almost shimmer. At least Hiro thought it did. He couldn't be sure, nor did he want to voice his observation. Like the time only he could hear the high-pitched noise, he didn't want to be the only one who saw it.

"Maintain position," Jack ordered over the radio. "I want to let them make the first move."

The exoskeletons began to move forward, spreading out in a semi-circle around the diesel truck. When they were equally spaced apart, they stopped once more.

GoGo pushed to see through the men she and Wasabi were standing behind. She didn't like that they'd been pushed to the back. "What are they waiting for?" she asked when they wouldn't let her get any closer.

As if in answer to her question, something flipped on each metallic body, a plate opening up as something poked out.

Hiro squinted again, having a better vantage than his friends, even though he, too, was further back in the lines. "Looks like..."

"We've got visible weapons," Jack broke in before he could finish.

Loud cracks sounded as the machines opened fire on the surrounding buildings, cutting through them like butter with a spray of bullets. Their mini turrets swiveled to get the maximum spread. Chunks of cement cascaded down from the warehouses they shot at.

Wasabi swallowed hard as he saw the falling concrete. "Heck no," he whispered, barely loud enough to be heard over the frequency. "I do not like the look of that."

"They opened fire," GoGo pointed out. "Let's go take them out!"

Jack's words stopped her in her tracks. "Wait." His barked command sent a shiver up the girl's spine, as it was filled with more authority than she was used to hearing. "It's obvious they're testing their equipment. We can't run in blind. I doubt that's all they've got."

Honey Lemon fidgeted, her hands poised over her chemical purse, ready to type in the first formula that came to mind. She wasn't sure she liked this waiting, but knew the captain was right.

The buzzing in Hiro's ears seemed to increase as he watched the exoskeletons do their thing. He blinked a few times, as if that would clear foggy vision he didn't have. What else could these things do?

When the walls of the warehouses were open, the bullets stopped. It almost looked like at least one man inside the suits was communicating with someone. With a few flips of switches from inside his exoskeleton, the guns turrets moved back into the exterior. Something else moved to take its place.

"Flame throwers," someone called out, probably from a closer area than the others.

Bouts of yellow and orange flame flew out as the machines moved forward once more, heading towards the warehouses.

"I am detecting signs of life," Baymax announced as he swiveled his head. "Two adolescent males, coming from that direct." He pointed towards one of the warehouses being incinerated. "They are inside the far end of the building."

Hiro looked up sharply in the direction his companion indicated. "Jack! There are kids inside that building!"

....................................

Travis and Henry stole into the warehouse. They knew they weren't supposed to be there, but a dare was a dare. And, as any street kid knew, if you didn't prove your mettle, you were likely to get beat up. And they were sick of sporting bruises.

"Come on," Henry called to his younger brother. "Let's get this over with! Just one item from inside!"

They slipped over the scaffolding; heading towards what they hoped was a set of stairs when the sound of bullets spraying filled the air. "Down!" Henry screamed.

After a few minutes, the sound stopped. "Let's get out of here," Travis whined, sniffling a bit. Tears threatened to leak out of his wide eyes.

"Come on," Henry repeated, getting up once more. He grabbed his younger brother's hand and led him, not towards the window they'd crawled through, but towards the center of the warehouse. "We're almost there. Just one item."

Travis sobbed. "I want to go home!"

"Don't be a baby!"

Halfway across the next scaffolding, flame seemed to erupt out of nowhere. Both boys backed up in fear. "Run!" Henry ordered as they turned around to go back the way they'd come.

................................

Jack made a snap decision. They hadn't gathered the intel they wanted just yet, but it would have to do. And maybe they could capture at least one of the metal bodies. "Let's go, men!" he ordered, waving his hand forward, in case some hadn't heard him. "Team B, get inside that warehouse and locate the kids! Everyone else, with me!"

"Finally!" GoGo said as she pulled her discs free from her skates, ready to fling them at the first target.

Men stormed from various locations, converging on the large clearing where the exoskeletons continued to flame the buildings' remains. When they sensed the impending attack, however, the machines turned to face the incoming threat. Some switched to guns, others kept their flamethrowers.

Hiro couldn't explain why, but he felt the need to hold back when the others rushed forward. Still focused on the building with the kids, he had a sudden realization. The one exoskeleton that had attacked that building had left enough fire that the building wasn't going to last long. "They're not going to make it," he said to himself.

Making a snap decision, he leaned more towards the burning building in question. "Baymax! Wings!" He felt the wings lock into place, making him jar his knee a bit, but he chose to ignore the pain. "Fly!"

The two shot up into the sky like a rocket. Baymax did a loop once they'd gained enough altitude, turning to dive at the building in question.

Flames licked upward and Hiro felt his body freeze. Images of that fateful night overlapped with the present. Without realizing it, he cried out as they passed through the initial flames.

Scanning the area, Baymax zeroed in on where the two boys huddled. They were trapped from advancing in either direction, fire lapping from both ends of the scaffolding they clung to. Metal groaned as it overheated. It wouldn't' stay up for long.

The robot dived, hands stretched out to ward off possible obstacles. Reaching their goal, he lightly settled next to the boys, using his thrusters to keep from placing his full weight on the already straining metal.

Both boys coughed as the smoke thickened around them. Unable to see through the clouds of burning matter, they clung harder to the railing as they swung over the blazing inferno below.

"It is all right," Baymax reassured as he took hold of their belts. "Please let go of the railing. We will take you to safety."

Almost too terrified to respond, the boys let go, mostly because the metal became too hot to hold onto. They cried out as Baymax took off, heading for the nearest manageable exit.

Hiro sucked in his breath like he couldn't get enough air, gasping in short spurts as he tried to not hyperventilate. Smoke seeped through the gap between his neck and helmet and he coughed. Seeing the wall of flame his companion aimed for, his pulse quickened even more.

Time seemed to slow as Baymax swooped free of the building, passing through the wall of fire. Once free of the flames, he looked for a clear place to land, one not too close to the action.

Hiro, however, didn't see the clear air, the men below them firing off semi-automatic guns as they swooped overhead. All he saw was the wall of flame as Tadashi ran into the burning building. Only, instead of Tadashi, it was him. He was the one running into the fire.

Finally finding a clear spot to land, well away from the onslaught, Baymax touched down. He released the two boys, scanning them for injuries. Both boys had minor burns, but had inhaled a lot of smoke.

Making a snap decision, he picked them back up and flew to the nearest hospital, contacting them in advance to let the staff know what was going on. Once there, he deposited the boys near the emergency entrance. He waited only long enough to confirm that they'd been seen before heading back to the fighting.

Hiro continued to stare ahead, trapped in the dream of running through fire, searching for Tadashi. He weakly called out his brother's name, but it was still loud enough for Baymax to hear.

"Hiro?" The robot checked his flight, landing on a nearby rooftop to scan the boy.

Gunfire sounded over their headsets as the seconds passed. The sound seemed to shake Hiro out of his daze and he all but slid off of Baymax's back. Still breathing hard, he removed his helmet, coughing from the smoke.

Even though the day was warm, the boy shivered. His coughing continued, though not from the smoke as he gagged on bile.

"We should return to base," Baymax said, concern filling his voice. It was obvious that Hiro wasn't reacting to another psychic connection. All signs pointed to an internal cause, mostly mental and emotional, though the smoke didn't help. There was no way the boy could keep going like this.

Hiro shook his head as he regained control. "The others need us," he reasoned as he wiped his mouth on a sleeve. He could hear their voices in the mix of chaos over the radio. That, and it was easier to ignore his own pain when he focused on other things.

Shakily regaining his feet, he put his helmet back on. With a will, he slowed his breathing. He knew his pulse would continue to hammer no matter what he did. "Let's go."

Baymax considered his companion for a moment. He did seem more stable now, but the robot knew the boy would have to face his inner demons at some point. Perhaps going into the fire had not been such a good idea after all. "Are you certain?"

"Yes," Hiro responded a bit impatiently. "Let's go." He circled around to climb back on the robot's back, wincing as he banged his injured knee on the magnetic links. He ignored it though. Physical pain was good. It distracted his thoughts from other things.

At the appropriate command, Baymax lifted off into the air. Before long, they were back at the scene of action. Wisely, the robot chose to land behind the line of fighting allies.

"Where have you been?" Wasabi called over his link as the two landed. "We're getting our butts kicked out here!"

Hiro offered token apologies; glad to hear his friends were still mostly okay. "What did we miss?"

Finding their leader in the mix, Wasabi flanked Hiro and Baymax on one side. GoGo joined him, flanking the other side. "After you did a kamikaze into that building, the first group got mowed down. Jack sent off some kind of explosive, knocking one machine over, but it didn't stay down long. There are a lot of people down in there. And by down, I mean, not getting back up again."

Baymax coasted low to the ground as they moved back towards the worst of the fighting, his two friends right by his side. He wove around the small groups, scanning those they went over, but not stopping. There was nothing he could do for them.

"Where are Honey and Fred?" Hiro asked. Almost as if in answer to his question, blue smoke filled the area. Its presence gave Hiro a sense of comfort that he desperately needed. "Never mind."

More gunfire sounded from the thick mist, though it made it harder to aim, let alone see much in front of anyone.

"Fall back," Jack called over the radio. "We need to regroup while they're confused."

At Hiro's urging, Baymax continued towards Jack's location, using his scanner to find the man. In the process, he lost his friends in the smoke, though they were already pulling towards safety. "I have located the captain," the robot announced as he managed to avoid running into one of the exoskeletons. "He is surrounded by three of the machines."

From what Hiro could see, the things weren't even dented, which didn't sit well with his stomach. The bile rose again in his throat. "Let's hurry."

Flying around more downed men, Baymax chose to fly a little higher to avoid running into anything. He used his enhanced scanner to make sure the path was clear as he maneuvered around.

The smoke cleared a little as the breeze picked up, the air sucking towards the still burning buildings. Sirens could be heard in the distance as the fire department began to respond to the emergency.

"I see him," Hiro called out as they passed the semi truck trailer. Two of the machines were heading up the ramp as they passed it.

Jack seemed to look around, making sure the area was clear. But, because of the smoke, he didn't see the one exoskeleton turning towards him. The little cover on the front flipped open and the gun turret appeared.

Hiro watched as if in slow motion. He reached out a hand as if to stop the inevitable from happening. "Look out!" He called, but too late.

The bullets sprayed from the gun, heading right towards the space captain. Jack looked up in time to see the hail of metal speeding towards him. His arms seemed to spread in anticipation of the impact nanoseconds before he got hit.

"No!" Hiro screamed as he watched the captain be gunned down. But before he could do anything else, Baymax shot up into the air, rocketing away from the scene. "Go back!" he demanded, unable to do anything except hold on for dear life. "Go back!"

Baymax didn't heed the order. "The Captain is dead," he announced as he changed course long enough to confirm his suspicions. "We will return to base now."

The boy sobbed, all but wailing as reality struck him a hearty blow. "No!"

The robot continued to fly on, heading to the manor. He relayed instructions to the other team members to meet them there. Of the group, he could only detect a handful of Jack's men still alive. Somehow, Rose and the Doctor had managed to disappear, and he wasn't sure where or how. The only order still on his mind was to return to base and wait on events.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I admit, this chapter was a bit harder to write than some of the others, mostly because it made Hiro face one of his biggest fears.


	19. Alive

"What the hell was that?" Thomas stormed as he threw his headset down.

The man next to him cowered "I don't know, sir," he stammered. "We weren't anticipating any interference."

Thomas picked up a random article and chucked it. They'd ruined his test. Of all the things that could go wrong, he hadn't planned on having anyone actually try to stop them. He'd planned things out too carefully for that.

Looking at the screen he'd been watching, he paused. The image showed a still from the battle, captured by one of the exoskeletons. It showed half a dozen or more men on the ground, probably dead. And among them, some colorful characters in what appeared to be flimsy armor.

"Maybe this wasn't such a waste, after all," he amended. Calming down, he sat back in his seat. Initial reports said the machines hadn't taken any real damage, which was good. He just didn't like the unexpected. And with whatever forced pretty much cut down, he doubted they'd see much resistance when the real deal came. After all, they'd cut off the head of the snake when that last man went down.

Thomas scrolled through the images, pausing at one where someone riding a red robot swooped into action. Were those thrusters? He'd have to talk to Kim about adding them to the next batch.

..................................

The moment Baymax touched down at the manor, Hiro slid from his back. He felt a slight sense of relief that the robot had thought to aim for the backyard instead of inside, and slumped to the grass.

Realizing Hiro needed some time to decompress, Baymax simply stood nearby, ready should he be needed. His sensors indicated a plethora of activity coming from within the boy's system. Once he was ready, the robot felt more than willing to envelop him in a hug.

It took the rest of the team a decent amount of time to return to base. By that time, Hiro had calmed some, now lying listlessly on the grass, his helmet off as he pinched off the tops of the grass.

"Hiro?" Honey Lemon approached a bit uncertainly while the rest hung back. "Are you okay?" She knelt to his level.

Without warning, Hiro rolled towards her, sitting up as he went. Tears flowed from his eyes as he grabbed her in a tight hug. "They just shot him." His voice came out tight. "Right there in front of me. Just mowed him down like trash."

Honey tried to smooth his hair with little result. Deep down, she understood that his grief wasn't just for Jack. She wrapped her arms around him.

While they sat there, the others helped Baymax out of his armor. All of their gear showed marks from the battle. Wasabi sported a bruised cheek and several minor abrasions. GoGo also had some new injuries.

Fred was, perhaps, the least injured of the group. His suit had taken most of the damage, though his ears rung from being too close to the action.

Honey Lemon's purse had cracked in several places from her using it as a shield. Several bullets speckled the exterior with fragmented metal. And Honey had several bruises and cuts as well.

"Your injuries require my attention," Baymax stated once free from his armor. "I suggest moving indoors where there is more light."

Reminded that the sun was setting, Hiro pulled away from Honey's embrace. Standing, he picked up his helmet, shoulders sagging. "Come on," he said without enthusiasm. "Baymax is right." He headed to the back entrance, the others following after him.

.................................

Ashes continued to smolder as the fires slowly died down. With the blaze contained from the outside, the fire department had opted to just let them burn out. Too much damaged had occurred to warrant saving them. And with the nearby buildings out of danger, they decided waiting was the best option.

An investigation would be launched, of course. But not until the embers cooled, which might take hours, or even days. A few corpses had been pulled from the ruins, but they were too damaged to get any I.D. on them.

"Clear em out," the chief called out, indicating his men should pull back. They'd done what they could for now. All to do now was wait.

.....................................

Inside the ring of destruction, dark forms lay in every direction. One space remained clear, however, where the semi truck had sat. That area was completely empty, with only a few gouges to witness it ever being there.

Ms. Smith scanned the area. She'd already ordered her team to clear the area, something they were waiting for dark to do. It wouldn't do to have local authorities see what was going on. Nor did they need to get involved with the recent happenings.

Walking further into the area, Ms. Smith saw the one person she'd almost hoped to not find. Listening to their frequency, she'd gotten the gist of what had happened while the battle raged. But it was still a bit of a shock to see Jack Harkness lying among the dead.

She skirted several bodies as she made her way over to the captain's side. "And here I was told you couldn't die," she said to the fallen man.

At that moment, Jack gasped for air, sitting up. Several bullets clattered to the ground after being expelled from his body, and he had to take a moment to catch his breath. "Not one of my best deaths," he admitted to himself. "Ugh, I hate that I still have to feel it."

Now conscious, Jack looked around at the destruction, pausing only when his eyes met a pair of rather nice looking legs. Looking up, he had to shield his eyes from the last rays of the setting sun. "Well, that's a nice thing to come back to," he observed.

Ms. Smith didn't look amused. In fact, she didn't seem to show any real emotion at all. "Captain Harkness," she greeted. "If you are quite ready, I would like you to accompany me."

Jack blinked a few times, shaking his head as if to clear his vision. "I'm sure I'd remember ever having seen such a beautiful woman as yourself before, so please forgive when I ask just who you are and how you know my name."

Krei's secretary stepped back so he had more room to stand. "I am known as Ms. Smith. At present, I am acting on behalf of UNIT, which I'm sure you've heard of. If so, can we please dispense with the pleasantries? We have a very pressing problem on our hands, as I'm sure you're already aware. I don't usually deal with Torchwood so please forgive my skepticism that you can actually do anything to help. However, I will need to debrief you on this recent event."

"Whoa," Jack protested as he dusted off his clothes. "Yes ma'am." He gave her a sarcastic salute. "Who died and put you in charge?"

Still not looking impressed, Ms. Smith only turned on her heels and headed towards the opening through which she'd come. "You did."

......................................

Hiro hung up the borrowed phone. After everything that had happened, they all thought it best to stay where they were. He was just glad his aunt was understanding, a bit disappointed, but understanding. He did feel a bit bad, though, lying to her about the reason, but there was no way he was going to tell her he'd flown throw a burning building, then watched someone get shot down. She'd never let him leave the house ever again.

He leaned against the wall as the landline nested in its cradle. He really needed to replace his cell phone. The main question, though, was if those men in black had found him through his lost phone, would they go looking for the others in his contacts list? He didn't know, and not knowing made everything else that less bearable.

Letting out a sigh, Hiro debated on rejoining the others. Thankfully, none of their injuries had been severe, but Baymax had insisted on taking care of each scratch before anything else. And since Hiro hadn't really attained in more physical injuries (he didn't count mashing his already injured knee), he'd opted to make the necessary call instead.

No matter how many times he ran things through his head, he couldn't see a different outcome. Running the images was easier than dealing with the emotions welling up inside. It was easier than acknowledging the pain he felt, closing around his heart. Life wasn't fair.

He allowed himself to sink to the ground, the lush carpet padding his behind. What was the use? Everything he'd done lately seemed to go wrong. Their gear had to be fixed again. They'd gotten their rears handed to them in the battle. They'd lost... no, he wouldn't think about that.

And the Doctor and Rose still were missing. No one was really sure when they'd disappeared, just that they were there at the battle one minute, gone the next. It was anyone's guess as to what had become of them.

Head now almost resting on his knees, he let his arms hang to the ground. Things never changed. He still couldn't erase the images, or the feelings. Fire. Loss. Death. They seemed to follow him like a curse. And sure, things seemed to work out okay, but that didn't keep them from cropping up, and at the least opportune moments too.

"Your neurotransmitter levels are low," Baymax said as he moved into view. Finished with the others, he'd gone in search of the boy. He was glad he had. He hadn't seen such low levels since that fateful day when Hiro had stubbed his toe.

Hiro didn't even look up. "Hey, buddy."

Baymax contemplated his patient, blinking as he tilted to one side. "I am sorry about the fire," he said, realizing he was repeating that past event in more than one way. "I do not realize it would have such a negative impact on you."

The boy didn't bother responding. Being reminded of the fire only brought up more images he didn't want to think about. "I can't do this anymore," he admitted. "It's too much. I just can't."

The robot didn't hesitate to scoop him up into his arms. "There. There. It will be all right," he assured.

Startled, Hiro didn't so much as protest as he was lifted, then carried back towards their central command room. He wasn't sure what the robot had in mind, though he rather thought it involved hugs all around from his friends. He just sighed, deciding to let it go. It would happen one way or another anyway.

................................

The Doctor shook his head as the men around him stood to attention. Regardless of how many times he'd asked members of UNIT to not salute, they still did it. Perhaps the habit would never die. Part of the territory, he supposed.

He'd been a bit surprised when they'd contacted him, though it probably shouldn't have been. Alien species. Space rock. It was bound to happen at some point or another. And he'd managed to keep that hidden from the others, even Jack. And, of course, he'd given them the frequency of Torchwood's radios, just so they could listen in on events. He just hadn't counted on their forces being so thoroughly trounced.

"They've found him, sir," a lieutenant announced as he saluted smartly. "Bringing him in now."

Turning towards the far door, the Doctor's lips turned up just a bit. No matter how many times he saw the man defy death, it still never got old. Well, at least not for him. For Jack, it probably did. "So you did survive," he quipped as the captain entered the room, Ms. Smith right behind him.

Jack shook his head at the sight of the Time Lord. "I should have known," he said as he looked around the well-equipped room. Monitors flashed all around, techs manning the computer stations as they sifted through the raw data from the fight. "You disappeared far too quickly."

"Hello," Rose piped up from behind a console.

The space captain smiled at the blond, quickly returning to a more neutral expression as Ms. Smith cleared her throat. "I take it you're taking charge, then?"

The Doctor waffled a bit. "Well, I suppose you could say that," he began. "I mean, in a way, I already was. In a manner of speaking."

Jack let out his breath as he shook his head. "Doctor. Doctor. You never cease to amaze me. Did you contact them or did they contact you?" He nodded to indicate the staff around them.

Moving over to Krei's assistant, the Doctor lightly touched her shoulder. "Ms. Smith contacted me first, actually," he admitted. "Might have been mutual, in the end, once we found out there really is an alien entity involved."

Jack shook his head. "Figures. I get roped in with you again."

"You will address the Doctor as Sir," Ms Smith informed Jack.

But the Doctor waved that notion aside. "Nonsense. We go way too far back for that. Don't we, Jack?"

He responded with a shrug of the shoulders. "So, I gather you want my take on everything that happened?"

"That would be nice," the Doctor said. "But we already pretty much know the gist of everything. I mean we had UNIT keep tabs on everyone. Well, except for Hiro. He managed to slip past the radar, in a manner of speaking. Was a little surprised by that, actually." He raised his brows. "Weren't we, Rose?"

Rose gave him a returning smile, mixed with a hint of sarcasm. "I don't think any of us really knew what to expect from any of them," she amended. "Even after what Ms. Smith told us about them."

"Quite right," the Doctor responded. "All we know about that incident is that he took his robot, dove into that burning building like a bat out of hell, flew back out with two children, then disappeared for a good ten to twenty minutes. Your tracking dot seems to have been damaged by the fire, so we can't really track where he went. Even his radio communications cut off for a bit."

Ms. Smith moved towards one of the consoles, typing a few commands as she pulled up some camera footage they'd managed to shoot from some ways away. "What we do know is that his radio began working again once he returned to the area."

Hiro's voice crackled over the speakers as they all turned to watch the footage. But the boy didn't become visible until after Baymax flew out from the cloud of blue smoke settling in the area. The two made a quick pass back over the area before flying off.

"As you can tell, Hiro Hamada thinks you're dead," Ms. Smith continued as she stopped the recording. "As I'm sure do the rest of his team. We've managed to track them back to Fred Whitmore's house, which is where we assume Hiro also went."

Jack rubbed at one eyebrow as he looked around at the Doctor, Ms. Smith, and Rose. "I think I'm beginning to see a theme here," he admitted. "So why are you all so suddenly interested in Hiro?"

All three exchanged glances amongst themselves. The Doctor shrugged when none of them seemed inclined to answer. "Because of the Portal," he finally answered.

Jack looked confused by that answer. He already knew the working theory, which had proved accurate so far. But that still didn't tell him what exactly was going on.

"My other employer, Alistair Krei," Ms. Smith began, "found some alien tech some while ago. At the time, the government was looking for new ways to address transportation. Once he'd figured out how to use the tech, he tried to improve on it. That's part of the reason I was assigned to keep an eye on him. We just never thought he'd get that far."

The captain's eyes widened at this admonition. It explained a lot, especially since he hadn't been all too sure of the idea that regular humans had come up with the idea. Not this early in the game. "I'm with you so far."

The Doctor motioned for them to follow him out of the control room as they continued. He reminded Jack of the effects the Rift had on the boy, and one other. "Abigail Callaghan was the other one in the Rift, but because of her suit and capsule, she wasn't as exposed to things as Hiro was."

"When she began to exhibit symptoms," Ms. Smith cut in smoothly, "we began to wonder about things. We were already monitoring the asteroid, noticing many of the same things your team did. Unlike Hiro, however, Abigail stopped exhibiting any signs that the alien entity was trying to contact her. That leaves us with Hiro."

Jack's eyes lit up with understanding as he continued to follow the Doctor down the corridor. They all turned off into an empty lounge. "What do you think is going on?"

The Doctor settled on the edge of a couch. "Don't you see, Jack? We think that whatever this entity is, it's trying to communication with Hiro. And if it can, maybe it can tell us just how to defeat these exoskeletons made from the exact material that brought them here in the first place. You were there. We didn't even put a dent in them."

"So, you think Hiro's not only the key to understanding what this alien entity is, but how to defeat those mechanical monsters?"

"Exactly."


	20. Shock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (An extra chapter for the weekend because I feel like being generous)

Hiro stared up at the ceiling. Just as he'd thought, the others had all given him big hugs. They'd all looked rather somber, though, each remembering private griefs. Now, most of them had opted to crash for the night.

Honey Lemon continued to work at her chemistry, replacing the apparatus with new equipment Heathcliff had purchased for her. She was determined to figure out a way to help defeat those machines, using their metal against them. But, so far nothing had really come to mind.

And Hiro? He didn't want to sleep. It wasn't for lack of exhaustion, because he was exhausted. He just didn't want to see the images currently teasing at the corners of his eyes. He knew that once he closed his eyes, he'd relive every horrible moment, and he wasn't ready for that just yet.

"You should try to sleep," Baymax admonished the boy. Despite appropriate medical attention, Hiro seemed unable, or unwilling, to relax.

Hiro let out his breath in a soft huff. "I'm not tired," he lied. "I'll sleep later."

Before Baymax could press the issue, Honey walked over. "Since you're not tired, why don't you give me a hand?" she offered. "Besides, there's something I want to show you."

Leaping at the opportunity, Hiro got up and followed her over to the worktable. "What've you got?"

"This." The blond pointed at the metal stuck to the table, quickly explaining how it had melded with the work surface. "I thought I could just melt it back off, but look at this."

Taking a small blowtorch, Honey aimed the flame at the metal, careful to keep the heat away from the glass and any other flammable materials nearby. Before Hiro could call out in protest, she set the torch down and rapped her knuckles against the surface. "It's completely cool," she said.

With a bit of hesitation, Hiro touched the metal as well. He looked up, blinking his confusion. "It's still cold."

Honey nodded. "I know. Check this out." She grabbed a fragment of unaltered space rock from her stash and smashed it against the table. The smooth surface didn't even get a scratch.

"Somehow, those chemicals changed the metal," she explained. "It might even be stronger than diamonds. But without any, I can't prove it."

Hiro's eyes went wide at that. Deep in his subconscious, a plan began to form. "Do you think we can use that on our gear?"

Honey shrugged. "I don't see why not. So long as it's in liquid form, we should be able to apply it to pretty much anything."

A small seed of excitement formed in Hiro as he contemplated the possibilities. At the very least, they could coat the hard parts of their armor, which would help. But that still left how to deal with the exoskeletons. The new coating might let them dent them up a bit, but it didn't stop them completely.

If he remembered correctly, their encounter with the exoskeletons was meant as more of a test. Chances were good that whoever made them would be looking for ways to improve on them as well. They had to figure out a way to shut them down, or, at worst, destroy them.

.....................................

As the first rays of light filtered across San Fransokyo, two dark sedans pulled up in front of the Whitmore Manor. Car doors slammed as four individuals stepped away from the vehicles. They quickly strode to the front door and rang the bell as the vehicles drove away.

Heathcliff's brows rose as he answered the door, recognizing everyone in the party. "Do come in," he said as he moved to allow them inside. "I will alert the young master to your presence."

Leaving the four in the small receiving room, the butler went to wake Fred.

..............................

Still unable to sleep, Hiro had moved into the movie room where they'd once celebrated Fred's birthday. He knew no one would bother him there. Well, except for Baymax. The robot insisted on joining him. With the others already asleep, he hadn't had the heart to say no. Did robots ever feel lonely?

The boy stared mindlessly at the large screen while classic horror movies played. He had the sound turned low so as not to disturb the others.

Baymax seemed absorbed in the tale of Frankenstein, something he'd only seen brief snippets of before, thanks to Aunt Cass. And it was probably just as well.

Sure the robot was thoroughly distracted, Hiro slipped out of the room. The clock on the far end of the hall told him it was morning. He groaned at that as he dragged his feet towards the kitchen. If nothing else, he could find something to munch on to stave off sleep.

Halfway across the front foyer, Hiro paused, hearing voices. More than a little curious, he edged towards the slightly open doorway of the receiving room. Whoever was in there was keeping their voices down. He couldn't understand a word being said. Not unless he got closer.

He moved to push the door open, hesitating. This wasn't his house. And whoever was in there might have nothing to do with him. Still, he couldn't make himself back away.

"What about the boy?" he heard a woman ask. "My sources say he should be here. We've already confirmed he didn't return to the café."

Hearing a familiar place mentioned, Hiro couldn't help but listen more. What if they were talking about him? Through the sliver of the open door, he saw black clothes, but whoever was wearing them faced the wrong way for him to see who it was.

Thoughts of what his aunt had said filled his mind. Men in black. Looking for him. They had his phone. They could easily track his friends. Find out where they lived.

Not thinking things through, Hiro pushed the door open with force, ready to confront whoever was inside. His fists were clenched as the door swung open and the voices inside stopped.

Whatever Hiro had thought to say left his mind as the dark clad man turned to face the doorway. He felt the blood drain from his face as he stared into familiar eyes, slightly unkempt hair, and a bit of a shadow from facial hair.

He forgot how to breathe as he stared at the space captain, eyes wide like a fish. "Jack," he chocked out before his knees buckled under him.

The Doctor leapt forward to try and catch the boy but he got there too late. He knelt next to he unconscious youth, feeling for a pulse. "Well that was a rather nasty shock," he observed, relieved to feel Hiro's pulse steady underneath his fingertips. "Not how I planned it."

Looking around, he nodded to Jack. "Help me get him to the couch," the Time Lord ordered, taking Hiro by the shoulders. With the captain's help, they safely moved him to the sofa, his feet resting on the sidearm for elevation.

"Someone should go find his funny robot," Rose spoke up, then went to the door to do just that. She stopped as the robot in question waddled into view from down the far hall.

Baymax paused as he registered the person ahead of him. "Hello Rose Tyler," he greeted. "Do you know where Hiro went?"

Waving for the robot to come closer, Rose stepped to one side. "He's in here. Only, I'm afraid he's passed out. Too much of a shock, I guess."

The robot continued forward, pausing again as he reached the open doorway. His eyes seemed to narrow as he contemplated those in the room. "Captain Harkness. My scans indicated that you were dead."

Jack flashed an awkward smile. "I was. For a little while, at least."

Still looking confused, Baymax shuffled further into the room. "I do not detect any injuries. Please explain how this is possible."

"It takes a lot to keep Jack dead, right, Jack?" the Doctor asked as he slapped the man on the back. "Right now, though, we're more worried about Hiro." He moved out of the way so the robot could see his companion. "Looks like he hasn't slept a wink in the last day or so. And I'm afraid the shock rattled him a bit."

Baymax moved closer to the sofa, contemplating the boy. "I detect an increase in energy levels around Hiro," he announced.

The Doctor pulled out his glasses and sonic screwdriver. "That's odd," he commented as he confirmed the robot's readings. "I don't recall feeling any earthquakes or other activity."

Before anyone could contemplate further on what that might mean, Fred stepped into the room, Heathcliff behind him. "Holy mother of Megazon," he exclaimed as he saw everyone in the room. He continued inside in a bit of a daze, and plopped down onto the nearest vacant chair. "Please tell me I'm not seeing things."

"You're not seeing things," Jack said, smiling. "I know what you're thinking. Hiro saw me die, but the rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

Fred sat up, his eyes going wide. "You mean you're like the alien hoard from Swarm Seven, who can never die?"

The Doctor signaled Jack from where Fred couldn't see him, telling him to just go with it.

Seeing the signal, Jack hedged a bit. "Something like that, but not really alien."

"Oh, well then that's okay, then," Fred shrugged. Finally realizing Hiro was unconscious on the couch, he leaned forward some more. "Hey, what happened to Hiro? He crash on the couch or something? He did look pretty beat last night."

Everyone seemed to look at each other, except for Ms. Smith and Baymax. "Something like that," Rose replied and the others nodded in agreement.

"Cool," Fred nodded. "He needed it."

.................................

One moment, Hiro was standing, staring at a very not dead Jack Harkness. The next, he was back at the island base with its long stretches of metal corridors. He walked done one of the hallways, wondering if another screen would come to life with the image of his friends. But nothing happened.

Sure something was wrong, Hiro started running. His footsteps echoed oddly behind him. No matter how far he went, another corridor continued on in different direction, like a giant maze. No matter where he went, he felt trapped.

"Hiro. Over here."

The boy stopped abruptly at the sound of that voice. He knew that voice. He'd heard it many times growing up. It was belonged to Tadashi. His throat tightened at the thought.

"Come on," Tadashi said again, though Hiro couldn't tell where his older brother was. "Keep coming. You can do it."

Hiro looked all around, trying to figure out where his brother's voice was coming from. "I-I can't," he called back. "I don't know where you are."

"I'm right here." Tadashi seemed to appear out of nowhere, standing right in front of Hiro. His hand reached out to touch Hiro's chest, just above his heart. "I've always been right here."

The boy's eyes welled up and he threw himself at his brother. "Tadashi! I've missed you so much! Why did you leave me?"

Tadashi held Hiro tightly. "I never left. I've always been here, waiting for you."

"That's not what I meant," Hiro said. He continued to hold his brother tightly, afraid he'd disappear if he let go.

Tadashi moved to ruffle Hiro's hair. "Come on. We've got a lot of work to do. A lot of people are counting on you."

Hiro finally pulled away at his brother's tone. "No. They're not," he protested. "I can't do this anymore. It's too much. I mean, I'm still just a kid, and- and-"

Bending to be at the younger boy's eye level, Tadashi took him by the shoulders. "You are so much more," he admonished. "Look at what you've accomplished! You are far from ordinary."

With a shake of his head, Hiro rolled his eyes. "I know. I know. I should do something important with my big brain," he mimicked.

"Exactly," Tadashi agreed. "Your genius is a gift, Hiro. You should use it to help the world. I have faith in you."

The boy snorted. "Hasn't worked all that well for me lately."

Tadashi picked him up and carried him into the first room nearby, one similar to the portal room.

Hiro called out in alarm. "What are you doing?"

"Shaking things up a bit," Tadashi announced. "Giving you a different perspective."

Instead of just setting him down, or hanging him upside down from his shoulders, Tadashi heaved him over the railing to the ground below.

"Tadashi!" Hiro screamed as he felt the air rush past him, anticipating a hard landing. Instead, Baymax was suddenly there, wrapping his arms around him moments before he hit the ground, just like he had back at the warehouse when they'd first encountered Professor Callaghan and the microbots.

"Oof!"

The air rushed from his lungs as he somersaulted out of Baymax's arms and hit the metal floor. When he caught his breath again, however, his eyes widened at what was in front of him, and he quickly back-peddled to the far wall. "Tadashi!"

An exoskeleton stood in front of the boy, a pilot with an obscured face staring at him from inside. "Watch and learn," the pilot said as she turned her machine around and charged towards an artificially created mountain of tumbled rock.

Hiro watched in awe as the tech scaled the mountain with relative ease. The thing then jumped from the apex of the rock, thrusters activating under its feet. "No way," he said, eyes still wide as he watched the pilot continue through the course.

The exoskeleton easily passed through fire, a hail of bullets, and a mire of mud, among other types of terrain. It also easily took out a number of different types of building materials before returning to its original starting point. The surface remained unscratched, despite all the obstacles.

With the skeletal frame at rest, the exoglass popped open so the pilot could exit the craft. Hiro's eyes almost popped out when he saw Abigail Callaghan fling her hair free of the helmet. "This is what they are working on," she said. "The plans are coming together as we speak. You must not let them do this, Hiro."

"But who are they?" Hiro asked, his heart falling to his stomach. With such powerful machines, how could they be defeated? Even if they covered their gear with the liquidized metal Honey had come across, there was no way they could keep up with the six already created. And what if they were making more?

Stepping free from the mechanical structure, Abigail glanced upward. "I do not know their name. But that is their symbol." She pointed upward.

Hiro followed the direction she indicated with his eyes. He had to squint to catch the details. But when he did, he wished he hadn't. The emblem featured a viper ready to strike, its fangs bared to the viewer. The red image against a black backdrop looked more than a little sinister.

"There's no way," he half whispered. "We can't go against that." Images from some of his worst childhood nightmares filled his mind. When he was a child, Tadashi had been there to sooth them away. But now? Now he was gone.

Abigail looked back at Hiro with such eyes that it almost hurt, like something inside her was trying to pierce through his very soul. "If you wish for us to help you, you must help us first. We cannot go home until these artificial bodies are destroyed. Their creator has captured us in their making. We cannot continue this way. Help us, Hiro. Free us from these monsters. You're the only one who can."

The ground suddenly melted underneath him and he felt himself falling again. Only this time, Baymax wasn't there to catch him. Flipping in the air, he found he was headed directly towards a pit of venomous snakes. He put his hands up as if to fight off the serpents, screaming as he fell.


	21. Truth

GoGo yawned as she entered the command room. The first thing she noticed was that Baymax wasn't there. Then she realized Hiro wasn't either. Feeling a bit stiff, she moved further into the room and found she was the only one in there. Honey must have gone to bed at some point, she reasoned. But where was Hiro?

Still sore from the battle, she sauntered back down the hall. She could think of a few places Hiro might be hiding. The first place she looked showed an empty room, movie projector still playing horror movies from the fifties. She continued on, reasoning that he might have decided to find something to eat. It's what she would have done.

On the way, she ran into Wasabi as he came out of his guest room. "Morning," he yawned. As usual, he was in a fresh pair of clothes. The man was prepared for most anything. They'd teased him about it many times before, but it left him in clean clothes and smelling good.

"Hey," GoGo answered as he followed her down the hall. "You haven't seen Hiro, have you? I know Honey's still out for the count. Not sure where Fred or Baymax are either."

Wasabi shrugged. "Who knows? If I were him, I'd probably find a place where no one could find me."

GoGo had to give him that one, because she'd do the same in his shoes. Well, almost the same thing. She'd probably be off on an adrenaline inducing adventure, trying to get the images of the battle out of her head. She hadn't gone down, but she'd seen too many fall to either a bullet or a flamethrower. And she didn't even know any of their names.

The closer they got to the center of the Manor, the harder it became to ignore the sound of voices. When they'd entered the foyer, GoGo put out her hand, stopping Wasabi in his tracks. "Do you hear that?" she half demanded. "Sounds like the Doctor and Rose." She turned towards the direction of the sound.

"Is that Fred's voice?" Wasabi asked as he took a few steps closer to the open door across the way. "But if so, why are they all up here and not back in the command room?"

GoGo signaled for him to be quiet as she tiptoed towards the room in question. Wasabi was right. If they were back, they should have met up with everyone in the back room, instead of lollygagging around up here.

"It's kind of hard to explain," she heard Fred say as she paused just next to the door frame.

The door sat about a foot open as she carefully inched closer, trying to not get caught. For all she knew, they were talking about something they didn't want others to hear. But if that were the case, they'd surely have shut the door. Besides, what could they say that the whole team didn't need to hear?

At that moment, Hiro's voice called out, though it was muffled. With eyes narrowed. GoGo decided it was time to find out what was going on. She pushed the door open, Wasabi right behind her.

Both crime fighters stopped halfway through the doorway, mouths hanging open as they saw who all was in the room.

"Hey, guys," Fred waved from his chair. "Guess who's not really dead."

The two continued to stare as Captain Harkness stood from his seat across the room. "Welcome back," he said, smiling a bit at their expressions. "I know what you're thinking. Hiro saw me die. But, as you can see, I'm not dead!"

GoGo broke her silence first. "Just what is going on here? How did you get here? Why aren't you dead?" she asked in rapid succession.

Wasabi made a funny kind of noise that was almost an uneasy scream. "Please don't tell me you're some kind of zombie."

Turning to face her friend, GoGo gave him an incredulous look. "A zombie? Seriously?"

"It could happen," Wasabi hedged, his expression seemingly frozen between confusion and fear.

"It's totally cool, guys," Fred broke in. "See, Jack's like one of those characters from my comic books. He can't die. The only down side is he's not some kind of alien or mutant with supernatural powers."

"That's the only downside?" GoGo looked at Fred like he was some kind of fungus. "Are you serious?"

Fred shrugged. "Sure. Why not? I mean, he's obviously here. Why not just go with it? The Doctor tried to explain it to me but it was a little above my head. Something about genetic manipulation by some force living inside the TARDIS or something. Not really sure what he meant by that though."

The Doctor gave a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders. "It's all a bit wibbly wobbly," he offered.

"I heard Hiro's voice," GoGo remembered as she moved into the room, looking around. It wasn't hard to spot the giant marshmallow of a robot that was Baymax. And just past him, unconscious on the couch, was Hiro. "What happened to him?" She knew the stance the robot had taken. It was the same stance as the previous incidents when Hiro had passed or zoned out.

"We're not really sure," Rose spoke up. "Well, the initial reason was the shock. You know, from seeing Jack alive. But we think the alien entity might be trying to communicate with him. At least that's what we're hoping."

"We?" GoGo looked around, realizing Ms. Smith was among the party. "What's Krei's secretary doing here?"

Ms. Smith stepped forward, adjusting her glasses. "I am here on behalf of UNIT, the Unified Intelligence Task force. We're investigating the alien life form Hiro encountered from the asteroid."

"Among other things," Jack quipped, earning him a bit of an eye roll from the female officer. "They're also looking into the matter of those exoskeletons."

GoGo didn't look convinced as she eyed everyone in the room, one hand on her hip. Her attention, however, focused on Hiro, who seemed to be mumbling in his sleep. "Is he okay? The last time didn't go so well."

Baymax looked up from his observations. "I am monitoring his vital signs," he announced. "In the event that they become unstable, I am prepared to call for further medical assistance."

"That's a relief," Wasabi said, though he looked a bit pale under his skin as he leaned against Fred's chair for support. "This is all still a bit weird," he admitted. "It's going to take some getting used to."

Rose gave him a wry smile. "It took me a while to get used to, too," she admitted.

GoGo found another chair to sit on and turned to face Ms. Smith. "Okay, since you all have obviously been talking, care to bring Wasabi and I up to speed? What exactly is this Unified Intelligence Task force? What do you do? Who's in charge of it? And why are you interested in us?"

The Doctor exchanged glances with Ms. Smith, something GoGo didn't miss.

"Well?" the dark-haired girl insisted. "Are you going to tell us what's going on or not?"

Jack took a step towards the middle of the room. "Since neither of them are going to answer," he gave both Ms. Smith and the Doctor a look, "I guess that leaves me to answer for them. UNIT was created to help monitor alien activity. The man in charge is none other than the Doctor," he pointed at the man. "Basically speaking, he's kind of like the president of the whole world."

"Am not," the Doctor retorted as he gave Jack an incredulous look. "I mean, yes I was there when UNIT was created, but that doesn't make me president of the whole Earth. That's just ridiculous."

Rose gave him a wry look, trying to suppress a smile. "Could have fooled me."

"Not you too," the Time Lord complained in a bit of an incredulous huff. "Okay. Fine. What Jack said, except the president part. I'm just on the payroll. UNIT helps keep the planet safe from hostile aliens. And, sometimes from hostile civilians trying to use alien tech to further their agendas, which is more the case this go around."

GoGo nodded. "With you so far. So, what about us? Why so interested in us?"

"It's more him," Rose spoke up, pointing at Hiro.

Wasabi's eyes widened as he thought about what was going on. "Okay, what about Hiro is so important that a world-wide organization would want to keep tabs on him? I mean, you've had your eye on him since the showcase. Don't think I didn't see you point him out to Krei. Speaking of which, what does Krei have to do with any of this?"

"I would also like to know," Honey Lemon spoke up from the doorway. She adjusted her glasses as she walked into the room, her expression one of concern as she looked around. Registering Jack's presence, she immediately looked towards Hiro to see how he was taking this news, but her eyes widened when she saw him sleeping on the couch, Baymax by his side.

Ms. Smith looked at Honey, her arms now folded. "Krei has nothing to do with this, unless you count him using alien tech to create that portal your friends went into several months ago. That and the initial creation of the exoskeletons."

This time even Fred's eyes went wide. But it was Wasabi who spoke up first. "Say what now?"

"Oh it's very true," the Doctor continued. "Alistair Krei was working on a prototype when it, and its inventor, went missing. We believe both are now in the hands of whoever is behind this. According to Ms. Smith's intelligence, they're fairly similar in nature."

GoGo couldn't help but rise from her seat. "So you're telling us that one of Krei's little toys got jacked and is now being used to possibly cause mass destruction all over the place? And we're just now hearing about it?"

At that moment, Hiro suddenly sat up, flailing. "Get them off! Get them off!" His chest heaved as he screamed.

Before anyone could do anything, though, Honey Lemon rushed across the room and took him into her arms. The faint memory of Tadashi telling her about Hiro and his childhood nightmares came to mind. The older Hamada had confessed, once, that Hiro would wake screaming like this. She wasn't sure why he'd told her at the time, but now felt glad he had.

Pulling him into her arms, she smoothed his hair. "Shh," she crooned, as though he were still a small child. "It's all right, Hiro. They're gone. The snakes are gone. They're not going to get you. It was just a dream."

Eyes still closed, Hiro sobbed into her chest. "They were so real. Tadashi, they were so real. Why? Why do I keep dreaming about them?"

Wasabi and GoGo exchanged confused looks. Perhaps it was just as well that Honey knew what to do. Maybe Tadashi had told her something that helped in these situations, because she seemed to know what was going on.

Still smoothing his hair, Honey shook her head. "It's okay, Hiro. They're gone."

Finally opening his eyes, Hiro pulled back a bit as he realized who was holding him. He sniffled as he wiped at his eyes, feeling suddenly foolish. "S-sorry about that," he stuttered. "I haven't had that dream since... since I was a kid."

The Doctor moved closer, bending down to be at Hiro's eye level, just as Tadashi had in his dream. "Hiro, listen. This is very important. We believe the alien entity was trying to communicate with you while you were asleep. Can you tell us what you were dreaming about?"

The boy's eyes widened a bit at the idea, his heart still racing. He purposely didn't look at Jack. "All of my dreams? Because I've had a lot of strange ones lately."

"That would be helpful," the Time Lord admitted.

Everyone got comfortable, Honey now sitting next to Hiro on one side. Baymax stood on the other, just by the armrest. Ms. Smith moved to close the door as Hiro began to relate all the dreams he'd had since the earthquakes began.

........................................

Thomas signaled to his men. Since they didn't know how that one force had found them, he'd thought it best to move to the secondary facility. So, under cover of darkness, they did.

Something bothered the man, though. Having looked through the footage, he couldn't deduce much about the red-clad robot or its rider. Part of him felt certain the rider was young. The duo had only appeared on camera a few times, which made it hard to tell. Whoever he was, he hadn't participated much in the actual fighting.

Then there were the other odd ones in their brightly colored outfits. They stuck out like a sore thumb among the more somberly dressed military types. Something told him they were all part of the same group, not party to the ones they'd slaughtered.

"I want to know who those freaks are," Thomas demanded. He felt sure he'd seen something similar before. He just couldn't remember where.


	22. Sleepy Time

By the time Hiro finished relating his dreams, lunchtime had come. Stomach rumbling, the boy was more than happy for the interruption when Heathcliff entered the room, announcing that lunch was ready. He'd held back some of the details, mostly about how he'd been told he was in pain and lost, and that the alien entity could help him with that. He wasn't sure he was ready to tell them that part just yet, if ever.

"That's quite the mental ordeal," the Doctor commented as Hiro finished up with the snake incident. He rubbed at his chin as everyone got to their feet. "Not quite sure what to make of all of it. But, seems to be that this entity is getting a better grasp of communicating with you as time goes on. Though it's still pretty vague on many points."

Hiro shrugged. He almost felt more tired now than he had before passing out. He felt rather grateful for Honey's arm around his shoulder. Without it, he felt he might fall over.

"It does give us some information, though," Jack spoke up. Hiro winced slightly as he did. "We at least know more of what they're supposed to be capable of doing."

Ms. Smith straightened her jacket. "It doesn't tell us how to defeat them," she pointed out. "And from what we've already observed, that's going to be the biggest problem."

Fred headed towards the door. "I don't know about you, but I could really use a breather. And some lunch." His stomach growled, reminding the rest of his team that they all hadn't eaten in some time.

"Good idea," Rose chimed in. "I'm famished."

GoGo, Wasabi, Rose, and Jack followed Fred out of the room, hoping he'd lead them to the dining room. Heathcliff stood just outside the door, as if making sure they all made it out.

Hiro stumbled a little as he moved to follow. His bruised leg felt stiff and swollen. He gave a faint grunt as he corrected his balance, ignoring the looks of concern coming from Honey and the Doctor. Ms. Smith remained impassive, though she, too, observed the boy's discomfort.

"I'm fine," Hiro said, pushing past the two staring at him. "My leg's just a little sore."

Honey glanced towards Baymax, who remained silent. Reasoning that the robot would say something if things were amiss, she dismissed the notion and followed her friend out of the room. The Doctor and Ms. Smith were right behind her.

....................................

Alistair Krei frowned as he double-checked the data. With his assistant on an admittedly well-deserved vacation, he felt a little overwhelmed. It was easy to remember how bad things had been before Ms. Smith arrived. And he hoped the woman would be back soon, but he set that thought aside to look at another.

Rumors said someone had recently seen the Big Heroes teaming up with another group. There were even a few mentions of strange mechanical monsters in the same area. He felt sure they were connected.

With some difficulty, he turned his attention back to the file he'd been scanning. It was the original report given him when the exoskeletons had begun life as something more than just an idea. Rough sketches of what the finished product would look like filled the pages, including technical data on how to pull it off. It wasn't the actual plans, but it was close enough.

Originally intended to aid those in the space program, the exoskeletons were designed to be self-contained units, more sturdy than just a space suit. And with all the bells and whistles needed for any decent exploration mission, it wouldn't be hard for someone to weaponize them.

Krei sighed as he set the file back down to rub at his eyes. This was all one big mess. But if the mechanical monsters Hiro's group had fought were based off his company's original design, getting this information to them would be beneficial.

Momentarily forgetting that Ms. Smith wasn't there, he almost called the woman over the intercom to have his car made ready. He remembered at the last moment and exited the office without making the call. Walking to the parking garage would do him a world of good.

....................................

With lunch over, the team had retired to the command room. Not having previously been in that room, Ms. Smith seemed to view the area with some curiosity. Jack blinked a few times at all the gear, commenting on how it reminded him of home. The others simply accepted it, including the fact that the TARDIS was still parked in the middle of everything.

Honey moved to her workstation, holding up the small bauble of liquid metal. "This is the metal I was telling you about over lunch. Hiro thinks we can use it to coat our armor, making it harder for it to break. I'm still working on finding ways to use chemicals to stop those machines though."

Jack, Ms. Smith, and the Doctor considered Honey's work while Rose moved towards where Hiro had slouched down in front of the computer. "Hey," she said, giving him a friendly little nudge to the shoulder, making his chair turn slightly.

Hiro continued to stare almost mindlessly at the computer as he typed out his dreams, trying to make sense of them. He knew there were other things he should probably be doing, like reprinting and fabricating their armor. Their gear did need some serious fixing. That would have to wait, however, until they got back to the café, where his 3D printer was stored. That, or the school lab, which might be safer in some ways, not in others.

"Hey," he replied back, more out of habit than anything.

Baymax stood to one side of the computer desk, contemplating his patient. Despite his best advice, Hiro was still ignoring the need for sleep. If things continued in this manner, he decided he might have to reinforce the idea in ways Hiro might not like.

Being a fairly fast typist, Hiro was able to get the main gist of his dreams down before the others had finished admiring the gear and other implements in the room. Opening another window, he began creating a basic program.

"What are you doing?" Rose inquired, still watching him. She'd seen people act like this before, when they wanted to avoid doing something they needed to do. In this case, she rather thought it was sleeping, mostly because Baymax had mentioned it a few times while the others ate. That, and the boy looked like death warmed over.

Still not looking up, Hiro continued to type. "I'm trying to make sense of everything," he replied. "Maybe if I can sort out the different elements of my dreams, they'll make more sense."

His program finished, Hiro let it run. Turning to a sheaf of paper, he picked up the first in the stack and began sketching.

"What are you doing now?" Rose asked, genuinely interested. She bit her lip, though, wondering if Hiro thought her intrusive. The answer became obvious when a hurried sketch of the exoskeletons became visible on the paper. "Not bad," she praised.

Hiro gave a slight shake of his head as he continued to doodle, adding in little notes on the capabilities he'd seen in person and in his dreams. "I'm trying to find a weakness," he confessed, the ruffled his hair in frustration. "But I'm not coming up with anything."

Rose moved into his field of view, blocking out the monitor with her upper body. "Maybe you're just thinking too hard. You should take a step back and give it some time. I always find that works better than trying to just plow through things. Your brain gets overly tired and you can't think anything that makes sense."

"She's got a point," Wasabi spoke up from inspecting his plasma gloves. Thankfully, the gauntlets hadn't been damaged, though he knew he'd have to re-tune the lasers inside. "You should get some sleep."

"I'm fine," Hiro retorted, though his face told a different story, with circles forming under his eyes.

GoGo looked up from showing Jack her skates and flying discs. She gave a sigh. "He can't keep going like this," she said under her breath, well aware that Jack could hear her.

Jack glanced over at the boy and nodded in agreement. "Short of giving him something, I doubt he'll take that advice," he observed. "If no one else wants to, I could go get a little something..." he trailed off, looking a bit devious.

Hearing his tone, the Doctor looked up. "Now, Jack. Don't do anything stupid."

Jack shrugged. "What? I wasn't thinking of doing anything too illegal." He moved closer to the Time Lord, not sure if Hiro could hear him or not, but hoping he didn't. "Look, it's a fact that Hiro refuses to sleep. Just look at him. You can tell he's burning the candle at both ends. He's probably afraid of dreaming about what's happened, but he needs to, in order to process all that's been going on. The further he pushes himself, the harder it will be to deal with things. Somebody's got to do something."

Honey Lemon bit her lip as she listened to this conversation. She knew the captain was right. Hiro wasn't going to listen to any of them. He was decidedly being stubborn, and she didn't blame him, not after what they'd all been through. "What did you have in mind?"

"Nothing too outrageous," Jack assured. "Just a little cocktail to help him sleep."

"Jack," the Doctor warned, not liking the sound of that. For all he knew, the space captain meant alcohol. And, knowing him, it was probably the most likely as well.

The captain rolled his eyes. "No alcohol. Promise. I'll just slip over to my place, grab a little something, and be right back. Okay?" He flipped open his transporter and input the code, activating it before anyone could protest.

Fred blinked a few times as Jack disappeared. "I've got to get me one of those," he said, wondering if maybe Hiro or Wasabi could duplicate one for him. It would definitely make life easier.

In only a matter of minutes, Jack returned, rematerializing behind the TARDIS, out of view from the computer area. He signaled for the Doctor to come over, GoGo and Honey coming over with him. They tried to act casual, but realized Hiro wasn't even paying any attention to them.

"Got it," Jack said, holding up a small vial filled with clear liquid. "A little something some of my boys cooked up to help take in guests without a struggle. Usually knocks them out for six to ten hours."

Honey's eyes widened a bit at that admission, not that Hiro couldn't use it, because he could. "Is it safe? He won't experience any adverse side effects, will he?"

Jack rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "On adults, just a bit of disorientation, but that might be because they get their dose through a dart and don't see it coming. Might be different since he's younger. I'd give it half a dose, just to be safe. Maybe a bit less because of his size."

The chemist bit her lip. While she wanted to help Hiro, she wasn't sure this was the best way.

"So, what? You inject it or something?" GoGo asked as she stared at the little glass tube.

The captain shrugged, tilting to one side. "It can be ingested with something like water or food. There's no taste so he shouldn't detect it. But injection is the fastest way."

The Doctor folded his arms with a sigh. "Jack, I don't think that's such a good idea," he admonished. "I know he needs his sleep, but to use such measures?"

Staring him straight in the eyes, Jack's expression became serious. "I know you have reservations, but Hiro obviously isn't going to play ball. If someone doesn't do something, he's going to burn himself out. If that happens, he won't be of use to anyone, not that we're trying to use him. I'm just saying."

Ms. Smith came up quietly behind them, listening in to the whole conversation. "I'm with Captain Harkness on this," she spoke up, causing Honey to jump just a little. "He's no good to us if he can't function. If no one else will, I'll give it to him."

Honey and GoGo exchange worried glances. "I don't know," the Latino said uneasily. "Is that really necessary?"

Jack looked towards Hiro with a wry expression. "You tell me."

From their vantage, they could see Hiro feverishly working at the computer. His fingers almost seemed to twitch over the keyboard. And he occasionally rubbed at his eyes, as if to stave off sleep. In short, he looked like a total mess.

With a deep sigh, Honey nodded. "I'll get some water." She went to find a cup.

"Just make sure you don't give him too much," GoGo insisted. "He's already going to be mad at us as is."

Keeping that in mind, Jack borrowed a piece of paper to work out the correct dose. He'd measured out the appropriate amount by the time Honey returned. "Get him to drink it all if you can," he instructed, as he mixed the stuff in, not that it would be hard. She hadn't gotten a lot.

Still a bit hesitant, Honey took the glass over to Hiro. "Here," she offered. "I thought you might need something to drink." She set the cup down next to the keyboard and backed away.

"Thanks," Hiro said, not even looking up from the screen.

Noting Honey's unusual behavior, Baymax shuffled away from the computer. "You seem unusually distressed," he observed. "What seems to be the trouble?"

Honey tried to resist the urge to bit her lip, her hand going to her mouth as she watched Hiro. Her doe-eyes widened as he absently picked up the glass and downed it in two gulps. "I'm sorry, Hiro," she whispered.

Nothing happened at first. Hiro went right on typing. But, after thirty or so seconds, his fingers slowed as his body began to relax against his will. Then his head lulled to one side as his eyes closed.

Detecting the change, Baymax turned back to the boy, scanning him "What did you give to Hiro?" he asked as he looked back to the miserable Honey.

Rose gave them both an odd look as Jack walked over. "Just what's going on here? You can't tell me that him going to sleep like that was normal."

"It was, and wasn't at the same time," Jack answered. "We just gave him a little something to help him sleep. He'll be out for a good couple hours or so."

Seeing the Doctor walk over, Rose frowned. "You knew about this, didn't you." It wasn't a question. "And you just let them do it?" She shook her head in disbelief.

The Doctor hunched his shoulders a bit defensively. "I was against the idea."

GoGo and Honey hung their heads as Baymax looked their direction. "It was for the best," GoGo tried to reason, though she refused to look the robot in the eye.

"What's done is done," Ms Smith interrupted. "It's best to let the boy sleep. In the meantime, we need to come up with a plan of action to find and defeat this group of vipers. So let's get to it."


	23. Memories

Krei was halfway down to the parking garage when he had second thoughts. It wouldn't do to just head over to the café, unannounced. At least that's where he assumed Hiro would be. The other likely places included at the Ito Ishioka Lab on SFIT campus, or at one of his friend's places. Any were possible. And if it were at the SFIT campus, he didn't know that he wanted to lave such sensitive documents lying around.

He checked his stride. An alternative solution was to have a messenger deliver the documents in a secured pouch. But, if he was going to do that, he should call ahead to make sure someone was there who could take them, someone who wouldn't question it too much. Definitely not Cass Hamada.

Deciding this would be a better course of action, partly because he still had a company to run, Krei headed back up to his office. He'd give each place a call first, starting with Hiro's cell phone. On second thought, maybe he'd just have Hiro's cell phone tracked. Those things weren't all that secure, after all. Anyone could be listening in.

..........................................

Tadashi Hamada had always been a fantastic older brother. Hiro just hadn't told him that before his time had come. He was sure his brother knew it, but he'd never actually said it, at least not in so many words. Now, floating in the ether, he remembered how awesome his brother was, feeling quite acutely just how unfair it was that he'd been taken from him.

When they were kids, back far enough that Hiro had a hard time really remembering, one memory stood out. He wasn't sure when it was, except that it was after their parents died, before they went to live with Aunt Cass.

At the age of three, it was kind of hard to understand why his parents weren't ever coming back. But Tadashi had always been there. One day, Hiro had somehow managed to scrape his knee doing some dumb trick. Tadashi had been there to wipe away his tears, clean up the blood, and comfort him until he felt secure again. Maybe that was partly why he not only saw Tadashi as an older brother, but as a mentor and surrogate dad.

He'd known Tadashi wasn't really like their dad. And when Aunt Cass came along, it was easier to let her take the lead, not that it had really changed things. They'd always been thick as thieves, even when Tadashi went to high school long before Hiro had shown an interest in it.

In his own right, Tadashi was a sort of genius, though he never flaunted it, only wanting to use his talents to help others. Hiro supposed he admired him for that, though he'd never really understood why until after he'd lost him.

Hiro sighed as he continued to float. It almost felt like he was standing in a giant sphere of snapshots from his life. If he focused on any particular one, he could remember the incident depicted. But if he didn't really look at it, all he got was a vague impression. And there were so many floating about. It was rather difficult to focus on any one.

Snatching one image from the air, he took a good long look. He smiled as he remembered the event, his high school graduation. Despite being the shortest, and youngest in his graduating class, his aunt and brother had cheered him on louder than any other parents had. His heart gave an almost painful squeeze as he thought about it, letting the image slip from his fingers.

So many memories. Most were good. Some were not so great, like when he'd gotten in trouble for trying to fix Aunt Cass's latte machine and ended up making it explode instead. He'd been five, or maybe six, at the time. Needless to say, though, after that, he didn't help out in the café.

And after his real genius kicked in, his aunt was more than willing to give him and Tadashi their space. Perhaps she had been a bit of a free spirit herself, doing things her own way. Hiro wondered if that was why she'd always been so tolerant of her nephews' odd ways.

Another memory floated by and he grabbed it without thinking. His throat tightened as he looked at the image, his breath hitching just a little as the flames came to life, making his fingers feel as though they'd been burned.

If only he'd insisted his brother not go into that burning building. If only he'd been strong enough to hold him back, maybe Tadashi would still be there. Instead, he'd picked up his brother's fallen hat, staring into space until he'd decided to go in after him. But too late. Always too late. Tears leaked from his eyes as he thought about it. If only.

The image fluttered away, as if stolen by a breeze. Another one found its way into his view, this one showing Baymax with half his armor gone as he clung to the capsule inside the portal. Again, Hiro wondered if there hadn't been something more he could have done to keep his brother's creation from being stuck in a void for forever.

Yes, he had recreated Baymax's body, and the core of what Baymax Baymax had been preserved, but it still hurt, knowing that he'd let one of the few pieces of Tadashi's legacy slip through his fingers. If only he'd been able to think faster, find another way. If only.

A flurry of some current made the snapshots flutter like wind-whipped leaves in a storm, pushing them away from Hiro's outstretched hands. Those images were replaced with others, more recent, and, in some ways, more painful.

You are lost. You are in pain.

Hiro crouched, his hands over his head as he bowed towards the ground. Yes, Jack wasn't dead, by whatever means, but he'd still seen him die, shot down right in front of his eyes. And yes, he'd saved those boys with his decision to send Baymax in there, but he'd also triggered a rising panic from flying through the wall of flames, not once, but twice.

Part of him wondered why he hadn't gone catatonic. Maybe he had and just hadn't realized it. Maybe this was all just part of one bizarre dream, his brain trying to deal with the trauma of losing someone else. Maybe he'd just imagined he'd seen Jack alive again, desperately wishing that it was Tadashi instead.

Unbidden, he saw the first time he'd met his friends. It was kind of weird, because he'd never really had any before. Being younger than most of his classmates for most of his life, he'd had a hard time forming any kind of lasting relationship, except for with his brother and his aunt. And when he'd been bullied, part of him had just shut down.

But things were different with the others. He smiled, subconsciously, as he remembered his first encounter with GoGo. His sarcastic comment about visiting the "nerd lab" had been thrown right back at him, and all he could do was give an almost gleeful giggle as he'd realized that maybe it wasn't as bad as he'd thought it would be. Maybe that was part of why he got along with the spicy adrenaline junkie. She wasn't afraid to tell you how she saw it, but she wasn't above admitting that she was in over her head.

Then there was Wasabi, a bit neurotic, but still just brilliant. His display of plasma-induced lasers had given Hiro just the right impression. And, of course, he'd had to give the older man a bit of a ribbing about his OCD tendencies, simply because he knew the older student could handle it.

And then there was Honey Lemon, almost always cheerful. Her introduction had decidedly been memorable, as she'd pretty much accepted him from practically moment one. They all had, really. But then she'd shown him something truly amazing, a chemical reaction big enough to blow his mind as she managed to combine different elements to create a giant pink sphere of brittle metal that had exploded into a cloud of dust at the slightest touch.

At that thought, Hiro seemed to come to a halt in the ether. Chemical metal embrittlement. What if.... Was it even possible?

Like a kaleidoscope coming into focus, Hiro felt his mind clear. If the formula could be altered to accommodate the different type of metal, there might be a way they could use it.

From behind, he felt someone ruffle his hair, but when he put his hand up to touch whoever it was, his fingers only met hair. "I knew you'd think of something," he heard Tadashi say as his chest tightened, the lump reforming in his throat as he gave a tight smile.

"Thank you, Tadashi," he said. "I couldn't have done it without you."

He thought he felt his brother's arms squeeze lightly around his waist in a hug, though he couldn't be sure. "You've got this. Just believe in yourself, and breathe."

Too choked up to really reply, Hiro simply nodded.

.........................................

"This can't be right," Krei said as he checked the screen one more time. If the signal was correct, Hiro was a hundred or so miles outside the city limits. Somehow, he doubted that was possible. The boy didn't really have any reason to travel that far away, at least not as far as he knew. Something wasn't right.

Making a snap decision, Krei made a call.

.................................

The café had been busy all day. A lull came just when Cass needed it. She decided to take full advantage of that moment to go upstairs for a brief moment. Hiro hadn't called back since the night before, so she assumed he was either still at Fred's or had gone back to the school lab to work on some project.

She was about to go back down to check on things when the phone rang. A little leery, she picked up the receiver. "Hello? Oh, Mr. Krei." She blinked back her surprise at hearing from the businessman twice in one week. "Uh, no. Hiro's not here. He's probably either with his friends or at school. He hasn't mentioned anything about leaving town. Why do you ask?"

Whatever answer Krei gave her wasn't overly satisfying and she hung up with a funny look on her face. "That was weird," she said as her fingers left the phone's cradle. She tried to shake the thought aside, however, as she heard the beginning of the dinner rush arriving in the café below. Worrying about the call would have to wait until later. Once things calmed down again, she'd call Fred's place and get things straightened out.

.......................................

GoGo frowned as the others continued to hammer out a plan that would probably not work, mainly because they still had no idea how to defeat the small army of exoskeletons, let alone figuring out where they were. Yes, UNIT's reach was pretty impressive, but they'd somehow missed the boat on finding the bad guys. And who knew what they were planning on doing next?

Ms. Smith let out a sigh of frustration. "Without further information, that's the best we can do," she admitted as they looked over the plans. "I've got my men looking high and low for any signs of their location. It's unfortunate that they chose to move from the one you found."

Jack gave a bit of an odd look at that one, since he'd been the one to technically find them first. "You didn't seriously expect them to stick around once they knew they'd somehow been compromised, did you?"

The woman shook her head, not to say no, but simply because she was frustrated. "I was hoping they weren't as smart as they appear to be. Short of somehow turning Hiro into a dousing rod, I'm not sure how we're going to find them."

Honey raised a tentative hand. "I have a suggestion," she said. "Hiro's cell phone went missing shortly after they were attacked by the men in black. Maybe they have his phone and that's how they found the café. If that's the case, couldn't we use that to track it back to their new base?"

The Doctor gave an approving look. "Not a bad idea," he agreed.

"If they still have it," Ms. Smith interjected. "And that's assuming they have it in the first place. It could be anywhere."

"I'm with Honey on this one," Fred spoke up. "They seemed the type to be thorough. I wouldn't put it past them. I mean, we don't' have anything to lose if we try, right?"

Wasabi gave an approving nod as he pursed his lips. "They have a point. Besides, we don't have much else to go on. No leaf unturned, as the saying goes."

Giving the woman a bit of a smug smile, the Time Lord stood from his chair around the card table they'd set up for their planning meeting. "It's as good a lead as any," he said. "And it won't hurt to check it out."

Ms Smith pushed away from the table in a bit of a huff. "Fine. I'll have my men look into it. In the meantime, I need to head back to base. Let me know if anything changes." She glanced meaningfully towards the cot, cordoned off for privacy, where Hiro slept.

It had been easier to move the boy to the more local bed, than to try and worry about finding a guest room that wasn't currently being used by someone. True, having the Doctor and Rose sleeping in the TARDIS helped, but it was easier to just let him sleep where they could keep an eye on him.

GoGo glanced over that way as Ms. Smith left the room. "Just how long is he going to be out?" she asked Jack.

The man shrugged. "Who knows? I had to estimate on his weight," he admitted. "I might have gotten the dosage off just a smidge. But if I had to guess, I'd give him a couple more hours."

Honey seemed to frown as she glanced at the sleeping boy. "I wonder if he's dreaming."

Baymax looked up from watching the boy. "Scans indicate brain activity consistent with potential dream state," he announced.

The corners of Honey's mouth twitched at that. "Well, then I hope they're good ones." She moved towards the duo, gently touching Hiro's head. "Sweet dreams." With one final pat, she went to rejoin the others.


	24. Hesitation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when you're home sick? Get another chapter up. Yay.

Wind gently swept across the grassy hilltop, making the tall strands of grass sway like a gentle ocean current. One minute, he was only hearing Tadashi's voice, the next moment he was lying on a grassy knoll with him as they watched the wind turn the landscape into a green undulating mass.

"You've come such a long way," Tadashi said, giving his brother a bit of a pat on the shoulder as he propped himself up with his other arm. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Hiro smiled in spite of himself. It was like old times, as though his brother had never really left at all. "Yeah. It's nice. Peaceful."

The older Hamada rolled onto his back, hands now behind his head as he stared up at the sky. "Did I ever tell you how I knew where to find you that night we got arrested?"

Propping himself up a bit, Hiro glanced at his brother, recalling the incident. At the time, he'd been too relieved to see him to even question it. And then with everything else that had happened, he hadn't really thought about it. "No. But now that you mention it, how did you know where to find me?"

"It was Aunt Cass," Tadashi said, a smile coloring his tone. "I was at my lab, working on Baymax. I'd gotten him working just that day, actually." He paused, as if recalling that day with a sense of accomplishment.

Hiro saw the smile on his face and couldn't help but feel one tugging at the corners of his lips as well. "I saw the recording."

Tadashi turned back to face his brother, hat pulled down to keep it from flying off his head. "I was so excited to show him to you that I rushed back to the café, but you weren't there. I figured you were probably out kicking your ball around or something, so I settled in to wait."

Earlier that day, Hiro had taken some time to play a little soccer, alone in one of the adjoining alleys. Before he'd met the gang, he'd spent most of his time alone, especially once Tadashi had gotten into SFIT. It had made things a bit tough, but it was easier to not have to deal with the bullies that way.

"I lost track of time," Tadashi admitted. "The next thing I knew, Aunt Cass was bringing up dinner, wondering if I'd seen you. When I saw your Megabot was gone, I just knew. You must have slipped in after I'd dozed off."

Hiro nodded. He vaguely remembered seeing Tadashi taking a nap, though he'd been preoccupied with the idea of making a few quick bucks at the next bot fight and hadn't really paid much attention. He'd only been in there long enough to grab his robot and verify the location of the fight.

"Then I saw your computer," his brother continued. "You were in such a rush to leave that you forgot to turn your monitor off. Knowing Aunt Cass would freak out, I turned it off for you, then came to find you."

The smile on Hiro's face was more genuine this time. "Thanks," he said, even though they'd ended up getting in trouble anyway.

Tadashi picked a blade of grass and held it between his fingers, watching it struggle to fly away with the breeze. "I was planning on doing some kind of intervention anyway," he admitted. "I knew you were going to end up getting yourself hurt if you didn't stop. And when you decided to try and go to another fight, I knew that I couldn't wait any longer."

Understanding dawned on Hiro's face as he realized what his brother meant. Taking him to the lab had been almost three-fold in purpose. One, it distracted him enough from the bot fighting to stick his interest in other areas, essentially conning him into wanting to join the university.

Two, it introduced him to a new circle of people, people who had become as good as family, mainly because they accepted him for who he was. They'd never expected him to be anything more or less than what he was, and he'd appreciated it. They'd also shown him that he wasn't really alone, that there were others out there who were at least similar to him, enough that he didn't need to shut himself off from the world.

The third reason, and he felt sure of this, was to introduce him to Baymax, but not just to show off what he'd done. Looking back, he rather felt that Tadashi was, in a way, giving him the robot, even though neither of them really knew that at the time. It was probably Baymax's real maiden voyage, minus the test Tadashi had performed earlier that day. And he'd been the first person he'd really shown his project to. It was rather flattering, now that he thought about it.

And all those reasons had panned out. He'd gotten out of bot fighting. He'd found a new circle of friends who he could believe in, and who believed in him. And, he'd found a constant companion who, while sometimes enabling him, also allowed him to find his own way.

"Guess you were a lot smarter than I ever gave you credit for," Hiro joked as he sat up. "I don't think I ever thanked you for giving me something more than just support. You gave me everything. Thanks."

Tadashi smiled at that as he sat up. "I would do anything for you," he replied, "just as I'd do anything for anyone I considered family. You're my brother. Never forget that."

Tears leaked from the corners of Hiro's eyes and he moved to wipe them away. "I wish this were real," he sniffled. "But I know it's a dream. If only I'd told you these things when you were still alive."

His brother moved to hug him. "Hiro, I'll always be there for you. Just because I'm not here in person doesn't mean I'm not in spirit. I'll always look after you, okay? And don't feel like you have to put the weight of the world on your shoulders, either. You don't have to do it alone anymore. There's a reason I introduced you to my friends. Remember, they're your friends too, and they're just as much family as Baymax or Aunt Cass, or I am. Don't forget that you can rely on them too."

Hiro hugged Tadashi back, his chest tight. He knew, deep down, that what Tadashi said was true. He just needed to be reminded of it every now and again. "I love you, Tadashi," he said as he held tight.

"I know. I love you too," Tadashi returned. "But I have to go. Your friends need you, and you need them. I'll always be here, waiting, if you need me."

When Hiro pulled back, he realized that his brother was already disappearing, almost as if he were simply dissolving into thin air, the wind blowing the fragments away. But he knew his brother was right. He would always be there, in his heart.

................................

"Hey, guys," Fred called out as he sipped from a coffee mug, his chest pressed against the back of the swivel chair. "I think Hiro's crying."

Hearing Fred's concern, five people moved closer to the sleeping boy's cot. But what Fred said was true. Tears leaked from the corners of Hiro's yes, though the boy was decidedly smiling.

Honey felt her body relax at the smile. "Maybe he's having good dreams," she mused. And it was about time, she thought. He'd been through enough.

"Hey," Hiro said as he slowly opened his eyes. Seeing the faces of all his friends, some newer than others, felt like a nice conclusion to his conversation with Tadashi. Part of him wondered if he wasn't still dreaming, but seeing the looks on their faces, he dismissed the notion.

Baymax's face came into view as the robot leaned over his patient. "How do you feel?"

Hiro ruffled his hair as he slowly sat up. "I feel like I actually slept," he replied. "Maybe better than I have in a long time." His eyes narrowed as he thought about that for a moment. "By chance, did you guys slip something in my drink?" He looked around at the somewhat guilty faces staring back at him.

"We were worried about you," Honey admitted. "And Jack had something he thought could help..."

Jack almost flinched at the look Hiro gave him. "Hey, you looked like death warmed over. Someone had to do something."

Hiro rolled his eyes. He wasn't happy that they'd taken matters into their own hands, but he had slept really well, as he'd already told them. He slid to the edge of the cot. Moving closer to Jack's position, he pointed an accusatory finger. "Well, don't do that again. Ever. Okay?"

The space captain actually took half a step back at the energy behind Hiro's words. It almost reminded him of the Doctor when he was upset, something he did his best to avoid seeing. "Never again," he promised. "Right?" He glanced at the others in the room, all of them nodding, except for Baymax.

"I am glad you feel improved," Baymax said.

Hiro almost bounced to his feet as he gave the robot a hug. "Yeah, me too buddy." He gave the others a bit of a glare, just for good measure. "Seriously, though, how long was I out?"

"It has been seven hours," Baymax offered helpfully.

The teen genius almost shot into the air. "What!" He pushed away from the robot to stare at his friends with incredulous disbelief. "Just what did you guys give me?"

Jack pulled out the small vial of serum and held it up. "Just a little something my team developed to knock people out. We weren't really sure how long it would effect you though."

The incredulous look he got in return was more than enough to confirm that the boy's spirits had somewhat restored. "But, as I've already said, I promise not to do it again." He held his hands up as if in surrender.

"Whatever," Hiro said, deciding he didn't have time for that. He turned to Honey. "I had a thought while I was dreaming," he said to just her. "You remember the first time we met?"

Honey nodded. It was a little hard to forget, especially since she'd impressed him with some serious chemical reactions.

"How easy do you think it would be to change the formula to work on that space metal?"

The blond chemist contemplated, seeing where he was going with his thoughts. She put one finger to her chin as she thought about. "I've been working on understanding the chemical structure, so I don't think it would be too hard to come up with something."

"What're you talking about?" Rose piped up, feeling more than a little confused.

With an almost mad scientist look on her face, Honey turned to the Doctor's companion. "Chemical metal embrittlement," she said with flair. "It was the first thing I showed Hiro." She glanced eagerly over at her chemistry set, her mind already working on formula equations.

The door opened and Heathcliff entered the room with a large envelope. "Special delivery for you, master Frederick," he announced as he held out the mail.

Fred jumped from the chair and ran over to accept the package. "That's weird. I don't usually get mail this late at night," he observed. "I wonder who it's from."

Heathcliff simply shrugged as he left the room.

Turning the envelope over, Fred broke the seal to pull out a manila envelope. His eyes almost bugged out when he saw the stamped emblem on the upper right hand side. "Why's Alistair Krei sending me letters at eight at night?"

Hearing the tech giant's name, Hiro dashed over.

Fred carefully opened the metal clasp and pulled out a file folder. "Wow. Hiro," he called, realizing a moment later that the boy was already next to him, "check this out."

Hiro took the folder and opened it. "Wow is right," he said in awe.

"What is it?" Wasabi asked, GoGo and Honey Lemon coming closer to see. The space-traveling trio held back, waiting to see what was going on.

The Big Heroes' leader held up the first page from the file. "Krei just sent over this." He pointed to a sketch of an exoskeleton that looked very similar to the ones they'd come up against."

"Are those the plans for those mechanical monsters?" GoGo asked as she took the top page.

Continuing to look through the papers, Hiro shook his head. "Not exactly. It looks like the initial specs before they went into development." His widened as he looked further. "But, I think I can use this information to come up with a way to possibly defeat those things. I mean, so long as what they've got made doesn't differ too much from what's on here."

Seeing their leader practically jumping up and down, they all seemed to smile in relief. This was the Hiro they knew and loved.

The Doctor simply watched this exchange of information, hands in his pockets. "That's all fine and dandy," he broke in, "but Ms. Smith is going to want to know about this."

Hiro's motion seemed suspended at the mention of Krei's personal assistant. "If this came from Krei Tech, wouldn't she already know about it?" he hedged. "I'm not even sure if I can come up with something to break their code yet. Can't you wait until we at least have something more definite to show her?"

"Well," the Doctor wavered, "I guess we can."

Rose bounced up and kissed the Doctor on the cheek in her excitement. She didn't really like Ms. Smith, and seeing the Time Lord acting more like himself was a decided relief. She didn't like how ultra professional he got around some members of UNIT. "Now that's more like it," she said. After all, sometimes winging it was more fun.

Relief flooded Hiro's face before his expression fell again and he hit his head with the palm of his empty hand. "Oh man," he groaned. "What's Aunt Cass going to say? There's no way we can get all this done here. I need my 3D printer to replace our armor. And I'm sure she's already going to start calling, frantically wondering where I am."

"Yes," the Doctor mused, scratching at the stubble on his chin. "That does pose a problem."

Jack got a funny gleam in his eyes, the corners of his mouth lifting higher. "Just leave your aunt to me."


	25. Chemical Reactions

Because Wasabi's van wasn't large enough to transport eight people, and a robot, they opted to leave it where it was. Instead, everyone piled into the TARDIS.

Wasabi nearly freaked out when he stepped inside, quickly stepping back out. It took both GoGo and Fred to pull him back in.

Honey Lemon's eyes went wide as she set foot inside the tiny blue box, but she went with it, mostly because Hiro, GoGo, and Baymax did. Fred just thought it was cool.

Looking rather like a mad scientist, the Doctor ran to the console, now repaired, and began throwing switches. "Let's how she doesn't have a sense of humor today," he announced as he set the appropriate coordinates and activated the drive.

Wasabi screamed like a girl, clinging to one of the support beams for dear life as the typical grinding noise filled the air, the floor shaking just a bit as the time machine dematerialized from the manor, then settled neatly inside of Hiro's garage.

"Oh stop being such a baby," GoGo complained as she walked over to the freaking out student.

Rose couldn't help but smile at the reaction. She'd been unnerved her first time in the TARDIS, and she knew many others had been as well. It was almost a rite of passage when traveling with the Doctor.

Jack tentatively opened the door and looked around. The garage, as per usual, was empty, the door closed. "Looks clear," he announced as he pushed the door open all the way. "Everyone out."

After some convincing, Wasabi let go of the support beam and entered the garage, freaking out even more. It got to the point that GoGo simply smacked him to bring back his common sense. While that occurred, the others shuffled out.

"I will need to recharge soon," Baymax announced, reminding Hiro that he'd left the robot's charging station up in the second floor living room, the others following him to the back door, outside the garage.

With a bit of a groan, Hiro headed towards the short flight of stairs leading to the door, then paused as he looked up at the sky. "Wait a minute. Back at the Manor, didn't you say it was eight?" He glanced at Fred.

Fred looked up from staring back at the TARDIS through the open garage door. "Yeah? Why?"

Hiro glanced back at the sky. "I think we've gone back an hour or two. The sun hasn't even set yet," he admitted as he pointed upwards.

Looking a bit proud of himself, the Doctor sauntered over, hands in his pockets. "Well, I did try to get you back a bit early. Wouldn't do to have you in trouble, now would it?"

Rose snorted. "Did you do that on purpose, or did the TARDIS do it?" She had her answer when he gave an almost flustered look, giving her good reason to laugh. "That's what I thought."

Hiro shook his head and started up the stairs, clenching his teeth as his sore muscles protested the activity. "Ow," he uttered under his breath.

Hearing the cry of distress, Baymax shuffled over. "What seems to be the trouble?" he asked.

The boy paused, one hand on the door frame. "My leg's just a bit sore from the bruise," he admitted, remembering what Tadashi had said in his dream. "Probably just need to work out the muscle a bit." With that, he reached over to unlock the door.

"I suggest taking something to reduce the pain," Baymax said.

Absently patting the robot on the arm, Hiro stepped through the doorway. "I'll do that, buddy. Be right back."

Sounds from the café came from his left as he started up the stairs, praying his aunt was busy with customers. The upper level seemed silent so he continued on up, holding to the rail for support.

Jack shook his head. "If he's that sore, there's no way he's going to be able to carry that charging station down on his own," he reasoned, despite remembering that the boy had done so a day or so earlier. "I'm going to help him."

GoGo decided to head back into the garage. "We should probably scan those documents in before he gets back," she reasoned. "Honey, you remembered that liquid metal stuff, right?"

Hearing her name, Honey joined her friend, nodding in answer to the question as she patted her pocket. "Right here."

Wasabi decided to follow. "Might as well pull out our gear and get going on that too," he said. They'd somehow managed to stuff the pieces inside the TARDIS while he was whimpering like a lost puppy.

"Good idea," the Time Lord said, pausing to look back up the stairs before following them, along with Rose. He wasn't sure leaving Hiro and Jack alone was such a good idea, but they did have things to do.

................................

"It's just over here," Hiro called out as Jack followed him into the living room. He'd kind of figured the space captain was bent on helping him, especially after his comment back at the manor.

Jack moved into the living room, which looked much the same as it had the first time. "Looks like we might be in the clear," he commented back as he looked over his shoulder. It was kind of fun pretending to be stealthy, even when it wasn't really necessary.

Hiro unplugged the charging station, pushing it away from the wall with one foot. "I think I'm going to take Baymax's advice and take something," he admitted when Jack looked up at his slightly flushed face. "Be right back." He headed towards the bathroom, where the medicine cabinet was kept.

At that moment, Jack heard footsteps heading up the stairs. He looked around, his expression a little wary as he tried to decide whom those steps belonged to. He didn't have to wait long as Hiro's aunt came into view. He gave a little wave, smiling with his whole face.

Cass hadn't expected to see anyone in her living room, but when she looked up, she almost fainted. Blinking a few times, she realized she wasn't dreaming. Standing in front of her was that dreamy captain her nephew had introduced her to not too long ago. "Hello," she said, coming to her senses. "What are you doing here?"

Jack moved in, not giving her time to adjust to the situation. "While I would like to say I dropped by because I was enchanted with your beauty," he paused, as he looked deep into her eyes, his hand around her waist, "I'm helping your nephew."

Having the captain in such close proximity made Cass's heart skip a few beats. "My nephew?"

Jack too her hand in his and kissed it. "Yes, your nephew," he emphasized in a gentle voice.

Just as the captain was really warming up, Hiro exited the bathroom, pain pills in hand. "Could you get me some water?" he asked as he entered the larger room, looking up at the odd giggle coming from his aunt. "Jack?"

His aunt looked over a bit guiltily, and quickly moved away from the overly charming space captain. "Hiro. You're home."

Hiro's mouth hung slack as he stared. "Uh, yeah," he managed, trying to pull himself together. "What are you two doing?"

Cass blushed, hiding her hand behind her back. "Have you been at school all day?"

Feeling it best not to lie this time, even though his aunt had totally evaded his question, Hiro shook his head. "Crashed at Fred's place. I was really tired. Now we're working on some stuff down in the garage." He skirted around Jack to get into the kitchen.

Cass followed his progress with her eyes, brows furrowing as he reached up to get a cup from the cupboard. "Hiro, what did you do to yourself?"

Hiro froze mid reach, realizing his pants had ridden up enough to show the edges of the spreading bruise on his leg. He quickly grabbed a glass and filled it with water. "Oh. That. Must have gotten it during the earthquake."

His aunt watched as he downed the pills, not looking convinced. "Why didn't you mention it earlier?"

Giving his aunt a quick kiss on the cheek, Hiro moved back towards the stairs. "Didn't want to worry you. Baymax already took a look and he's not worried about it," he hedged. With that, he headed back down the stairs.

Cass stared after him. "Oh. Well, please try to be more careful."

Jack took that moment to head after the boy. "Don't worry," he said, giving her a kiss on the other cheek. "I'll keep an eye on him." He gave a half salute and, grabbing the charging station, headed after the boy.

.....................................

By the time Hiro returned to the garage, he found Wasabi and GoGo already looking through their gear to see what was salvageable. A small pile had grown for the discards.

The Doctor leaned over the far computer, tapping away at the keyboard. "Got that lot scanned in," he announced as Rose lifted the last sheet of paper from the file.

"You've been busy," Hiro stated as he moved towards Fred and Honey, who were messing with a small chemistry set.

Everyone looked up as he spoke, Jack bringing in Baymax's case behind him. The captain set the red docking station down and plugged it into the nearest outlet. "Here you go," he said, glancing over at the robot.

Baymax shuffled over and stepped into the station. The battery bar showed he had less than half a full battery.

"We wanted to get a jump start on things," Honey said as she measured out some liquid chemicals for her apparatus.

Smiling, Hiro went to retrieve his swivel chair, sitting down in front of the holographic computer. Cracking his knuckles, he pulled up the designs for his friends' gear. "Let's see what we can do to improve things, shall we?"

..................................

The 3D printer hummed. The Bunsen burner hissed. The welding tools sprayed liquid light as the team of intrepid heroes prepared their new gear.

The Doctor helped Hiro and Honey with some complex mathematical equations as both tried to figure out how to apply the information they'd received in a meaningful way. Jack helped Wasabi and GoGo at the welding table as they joined pieces together and smoothed off jagged edges.

Rose and Fred worked on repainting the armor once the new metal layer had set. After all, it wouldn't do to change the iconic colors of their suits.

Hiro called out instructions as he continued to work on finding a weakness in the plans he did have to the exoskeletons. He hadn't felt this alive and excited since they'd first built their original gear.

Slowly, components came together. Baymax kept watch in case someone should need medical attention, but otherwise stayed out of the way. It was easier that way.

Every now and then, the group met up near the back computer to plan some strategy, or to look over something the Doctor or Hiro had discovered about their foe. And, occasionally, one of them went out to find either a snack or something more substantial.

As the ten o'clock hour rolled around, most of them wiped away sweat and exhaustion. "Whew," Wasabi said as he finished some details on his gear. "That was intense." He removed his headgear, impressed with the addition of several channels on their radios. Hiro had obviously given a lot of thought to the upgrades.

"Maybe we should call it a night," GoGo said as she inspected her new skates. They didn't seem to weigh any more than the old ones, though they felt much more durable. It could have been a trick of the mind, though, with the new coating of durable metal.

Hiro, looking wide-eyed and bushy-tailed, gave his friends and incredulous look. "Already? I've just about got this figured out!" At the incredulous looks of his team, he backed down. "Okay, okay," he amended. "We can pick back up in the morning, but I'm going to keep working."

Honey glanced at Baymax, who blinked back. "I will make sure he does not work too hard," he assured her.

"Guess we'd all better head home then," Fred said, a bit disappointed.

Rose and the Doctor exchanged looks. "Well, I don't know that that's necessary. I mean, if the TARDIS is willing to cooperate, we should have several guest rooms inside, if anyone's game." He looked around like a kid at Christmas, a hint of mad scientist in his eyes.

Wasabi eyed the blue box. "Sleep? In that thing? No thank you. I'd rather sleep on the couch." He indicated the old couch at the back with a wave of his hand.

"Suits me," GoGo said as she put her gear down.

Fred grinned from ear to ear. "Think we could go exploring?"

"Not tonight," Jack said, stifling a yawn. "You might get lost like I did that one time."

The Doctor and Rose rolled their eyes in unison. "Yes, let's not do that again," the Time Lord said.

They kept bantering as all but Hiro, Baymax, and Wasabi disappeared into the blue box. The noise only stopped with the closing of the door.

"Finally," Hiro breathed. "Peace at last." He moved back to the holographic computer, pulling up a 3D model of the exoskeletons.

Wasabi headed towards the couch. "Wake me if I start to snore," he requested, getting a nod for answer. He slumped onto the worn cushions. "That's more like it," he sighed before dozing off.

Now more than fully charged, Baymax moved to observe Hiro's work. "May I be of some assistance?" he inquired.

Hiro spun the image he was working on. "There has to be more than just buttons and gears controlling those things," he stated. "I'm willing to bet they're using neural transmitters to control them." He jabbed at the holographic headgear. "If I could just figure out the frequency, I might be able to cancel it out."

Baymax contemplated the holographic projection. "If you could access their interiors, you could use Captain Harkneness's serum to incapacitate the pilots," he suggested.

Contemplating the idea, Hiro began to get excited. "Yes! It would take out the pilots without hurting them, leaving the skeletons intact! You're a genius!" he gave the giant marshmallow a hug, but pulled back as a thought struck him. "There's only one problem, how to get the serum through the metal skin."


	26. Driving

Cass shook her head as she took a moment to peek into the garage. Not having heard Hiro up in his room, as per usual, she'd correctly guessed he was still in his impromptu lab space. She was a little puzzled by the large phone box, but shrugged it off. There was likely some story involved that she simply didn't want to hear.

Hiro seemed to have dozed off on the floor; his back nestled against Baymax's stomach. The only other person she saw was Wasabi, who was decidedly out on the couch. At Baymax's silent shushing, she nodded and tiptoed out, heading back to the upper level.

.........................

When Ms. Smith arrived at the Whitmore Manor, bright and early, she let out a bit of a huff. According to the butler, everyone was out. Did she want to leave a message? And no, he did not know where they went or when they'd return.

Getting back into the car, she had the irrational desire to bomb the place, but quickly dismissed it. They might have just gone out to get some things.

"I want a surveillance team in place here," she instructed one of her men. "Let me know the moment they get back." The man got out of the car, saluting smartly as the sedan drove off.

.................

When the TARDIS door opened, everything was quiet. Not even Wasabi was snoring. GoGo looked around to see Hiro with his eyes closed, his head resting against Baymax. "Asleep?" she asked in a whisper as the others followed her out.

Baymax swiveled his head to look her direction. "Hiro is meditating," he answered her in a quiet voice.

The Korean put one hand on her hip, already chewing her usual pink gum. "You sure he's not just examining the insides of his eyelids?"

Blinking a bit as he contemplated her tone of voice, the robot tilted his head to one side. "Hiro is meditating," he repeated.

"Sh," Hiro said, waving his hand to shut them up. "I'm trying to think here."

Seeing the interchange, the others quickly tiptoed away from the blue box as they dispersed around the room. "Please tell me he at least took a nap," Honey worried.

"He did," Baymax confirmed.

Hiro opened one eye, a sigh lifting his shoulders. "Guys, could you please be quiet? I'm really trying to concentrate here."

Fred moved over to the workbench and began fiddling with the oddments that seemed to have appeared there overnight. "What's this?" he asked as he held up a small dart looking device.

With a groan, Hiro moved from his cross-legged position. "Really?" He had to lean against Baymax for a moment as the circulation returned to his legs. "Whoa." Honey almost rushed over but stopped at a look from Hiro. "It's just pins and needles," he assured her.

Legs a bit steadier, Hiro moved towards the worktable. "These," he said, picking up an identical dart to the one Fred held up, "are tranquilizing darts. Baymax's idea." The robot seemed to blush. "He thinks Jack's serum could give the pilots a nice nap. The only problem is getting them through the armor and into their system. The darts were my idea, though I still need to come up with a way to get them past the hardened exterior."

He turned to Honey, tossing the dart back onto the worktable. "Do you think your hardened liquid metal stuff could go through the exoskeleton's metal bodies?"

Honey pursed her lips as she thought about it. "There's one way we can find out," she said. "But we'd have to go back to Fred's place to get a sample."

Rose almost hopped over as she held up a hand. "No you don't! Just hold on a minute." She turned to the Doctor. "Do you still have that rock inside?" She didn't' even wait for his answer as she ran back into the TARDIS. Moments later, she ran back out with the sample they'd snitched from the Manor, and the one the Time Lord had nabbed from space. "Will this do?"

The chemist all but snatched up the samples, her eyes showing her excitement. "Maybe! Let me see." She ran over to her chemistry set and began fiddling with things.

GoGo sauntered over to stare at Wasabi, who was still out like a light. "He been like this most of the night?"

Hiro let out a little snort as his face registered a mischievous smile. "Yeah, and you should have heard him snoring at two in the morning!"

At his exclamation, Wasabi gave half a snort as he rolled over, landing on the floor. His eyes flew open in surprise as he rubbed at his backside, until he realized who all was there. Then he quickly got to his feet.

GoGo burst out laughing, Hiro and Fred joining her. "That was hilarious," she croaked as she slapped her thigh. "You should have seen your face!"

Wasabi frowned, arms folded. "You'd be surprised too if you fell off a couch."

The first to control himself, Hiro gave a shake of his head. Walking away, he headed towards the Doctor, pulling him aside. "I was wondering if I could ask a favor," he said to the taller man.

Looking a bit absent-minded, the Time Lord leaned a bit towards the boy. "A favor? Dangerous things, those. What did you need?"

Hiro leaned closer, indicating he wanted the man to do the same. He then whispered something into the Doctor's ear.

The Time Lord looked surprised by the request. "How'd you know about that?" he asked, sure he hadn't mentioned anything about it near the boy.

"Baymax told me," Hiro said in reply. "Regular meditation doesn't seem to work so I thought maybe you could do that thing you did back then and see what happens."

The Doctor rubbed at his chin as he contemplated what the boy was asking. "You sure about this? I'm not sure what will happen, if anything. Not to mention how it will effect you."

Hiro nodded firmly. "I'm sure. Just not here. I don't want the others worrying." He nodded towards his friends for emphasis.

Jack eyed the pair, his brows furrowing. When Hiro moved away from the Time Lord, he sauntered over. "I couldn't help but overhear something a bit disturbing," he said. "Just what does the kid plan on doing?"

The Doctor looked directly into Jack's eyes. "Leave it alone, Jack," he warned. "If I were you, I'd work on duplicating that sleeping potion of yours, and try to keep the others busy."

Seeing the tension between the two men, Rose walked over, hands on her hips. "All right. What's going on between you two?"

Face still set with a mixture of stern and concern, the Doctor watched as Jack walked away. When he turned to face his companion, the customary goofy grin returned. "Oh, that? Nothing much. Just a difference in opinion is in. Speaking of which, we should probably report in to Ms. Smith." He dangled the wrist transporter he'd lifted from Jack.

Rose's eyes went wide. "When'd you do that?"

The grin spread even wider. "Just now," the Time Lord admitted. "He doesn't need it right now, and I'll return it when we're done."

The Londoner gave a wicked sort of grin. "Now aren't you the mischievous one."

The Doctor waved to the room in general. "Just thought I'd let you know that Rose and I are going to check in," he announced. There were a few nods, but most of everyone was too busy with their own things to really pay attention.

Stepping behind the TARDIS, the Doctor had Rose hold tight while he manipulated the wristband's controls. They were gone the next moment.

...............................

Heathcliff had just finished inspecting the front foyer when Rose and the Doctor appeared out of nowhere. Taking it all in stride, he moved to greet the time traveling duo.

Waving aside the pleasantries, the Doctor glanced furtively around. "You haven't seen any more of those UNIT people, have you?" he asked.

The butler briefly told them of his encounter with Ms. Smith. "They are watching the Manor," he added.

"Good man," the Time Lord approved, patting the butler on the back. "How's your brother in Lampton doing?"

Heathcliff gave a very quick smile before answering that his brother was doing well. A man of few words, he'd never mentioned to the young master, or his friends, that he'd known who the Time Lord was all along. He rather thought they'd put on a good show though, and made a mental note to tell his brother when next he wrote.

"Fantastic!" The Doctor gave him another pat for good measure. "We're going to need a distraction while Rose and I take that van full of metal to the others. Think you can manage?"

Heathcliff's eyes crinkled into a smile. "With pleasure, sir."

..............................

Thomas nodded in satisfaction. Only a day or two had passed since their little test, but they'd already made modifications to the machines. And they had a total of twelve fully functional models ready to go, with another dozen on the assembly line. With teams working around the clock, they'd be more than ready when the deadline came.

There was only one problem. Well, technically six. They'd identified the odd costumed freaks as a band of vigilantes the people were calling the Big Heroes. Their track record was pretty impressive for only having been active for the past several months.

There was also some news on the cell phone end. When one of the techs tried to unscramble the SIM card, it had overheated and melted the phone. Dead end. But it was just as well. They'd done their homework on the owner, just to be safe.

Hiro Hamada. As far as Thomas could tell, the boy was a technological genius, though he still wasn't sure if he was connected to anything important. But, just to be safe, he'd sent a team to keep an eye on all known haunts, mainly the Lucky Cat Café and the SFIT campus.

......................

"You sure you should be driving this thing?" Rose asked as the Doctor eased the large car into traffic. Thanks to the butler, the UNIT group hadn't caught onto their leaving, though it was only a matter of time until they did.

Uttering a silent apology to Ms. Smith, the Doctor turned at the intersection. "No," he answered. "But you don't have a valid license."

"Neither do you," Rose retorted as she turned to look out the back window of the van. Thankfully, the raw metal, and other things didn't obstruct it, inside.

The Doctor raised his brows at that. "Sure I do." He held up his psychic paper as proof. " Works every time."

Rose rolled her eyes. "I feel better already."

..............................

Cass glanced out the window for the umpteenth time. She wasn't one hundred percent sure, but she thought someone was watching the café. One a whim, she'd made a quick trip to the rear of the store, making sure no one was snooping around the garage. The last thing she needed was for some one to disturb her nephew while he was working on a project.

Reporters still occasionally hung around, wanting to catch a quite from either the boy or his aunt, but Cass wasn't having any of that. They'd done that song and dance many times before.

There was something odd about the man watching from across the street, though. Making a quick decision, she decided to call the cops, asking them to at least drive by. Maybe that would tell those men in black it was best to leave the Hamada family alone.

.........................

By the time the Doctor drove past the café, the man across the street had decided to, at least temporarily, leave the area, thanks to a squad car slowly trolling the area. The Time Lord parked the vehicle at the back, right in front of the garage, leaving only enough room to open the swinging door.

"You know that last one was a read light, right?" Rose complained as they tog out of the van.

The Doctor gave her an incredulous look. "Was not either," he protested. "Clearly it was still yellow."

"Before or after you started across?"

She had him there, and he knew it. Instead of answering, he chose to head for the hinged door, pulling it open. "We're back," he announced. "And we brought more supplies."

With everyone's help, minus Hiro who had gone inside to use the facilities, they unloaded several chunks of the rock, along with Honey's more advance chemistry equipment.

Honey hugged the Time Lord, giving him a kiss on each cheek before giddily running to her temporary workstation to set up the new equipment. They'd have to cart it all back to the manor at some point, but it made the trip unnecessary for a while. "Now I can work on that formula again," she said excitedly.

Jack gave the Doctor a knowing look as he held out his hand. "Can I have my gadget back now?"

A bit sheepish, the Doctor turned over the wristband. "You gotta admit," he said by way of excuse, "it was a lot faster than just walking over there."

The space captain shook his head. "I've been keeping everyone busy, just as you asked," he said. "Mind telling me what you've got planned?"

Looking vague, the Time Lord merely scratched at the stubble on his chin. "Oh, nothing much," he hedged. "Best to keep idle hands busy, if you know what I mean. How's that serum of yours coming along?"

Jack gave a shake of his head as he sighed. "Without something to work with, it's kind of hard to make something out of nothing," he admonished. "But, if Honey will let me use her chemistry set, I can get going on that shortly." He glanced over at the chemist for permission. With a bit of a wave, Honey invited the captain over, clearing a space for him to work.

"Two down," the Doctor commented. "Let's see how to keep the others busy." He moved further into the garage, noting that Fred and Wasabi were painting over the metal coating added to their armor. "That'll keep them for a while," he said to himself in satisfaction.

GoGo seemed to be supervising the two painters, pointing out specific color schemes that had become traditional for each member of the team. That left only Hiro, and he was just the person the Doctor was looking for. Minus Rose. He wasn't sure if he should try and keep her busy on some project or let her tag along. Baymax was, for obvious reasons, going to join the two inside the TARDIS.

"You going to let me in on what's going on?" Rose asked as she realized what the Doctor was doing.

Wavering a bit, the Doctor decided it probably would be best to have a second pair of hands, just in case. "Come with me," he said as he motioned towards Hiro with a nod.

Finished with his business upstairs, Hiro nudged Baymax. The two headed towards the TARDIS as nonchalantly as possible. The Doctor held the door open for them, closing it securely behind them once inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just had to add a scene where the Doctor got behind the wheels of a car. Just had to. :D


	27. Fully Charged

The TARDIS control room seemed more dim than usual as the four individuals moved to the most open area of the command deck. Once all were inside, the Doctor had locked the door, just to be safe. Jack could be quite resourceful, when he wanted to be, and the Time Lord wasn't sure if the man still had a key or not. He'd have to look into that later, though.

Hiro unrolled the square of carpet he'd thought to grab at the last minute, and placed it on the floor. He then proceeded to sit on it, cross-legged, as he let his hands rest on his knees.

"Now, you're absolutely sure you want to go through with this?" the Doctor asked. "I can't stress just how risky this is. We have no way of knowing what will happen. I'm not even sure if it will work."

Hiro and Baymax exchanged glances. After having talked it over with the robot the night before, the boy felt more than sure about this course of action. Besides, he didn't know of any other way to get things going, short of shooting down another asteroid. "I'm sure."

Baymax moved closer to Hiro, where he could easily monitor the boy, unobstructed. "I will monitor Hiro's vital signs the entire time," he assured the Time Lord. "If I detect any reason for concern, I will notify you immediately."

Rose watched, not really sure what was going on. "Okay, someone going to let me in on what's going on?"

The Doctor pulled a small chunk of the space rock from his pocket, placing it on the nearest console section. "We're going to try and see if we can connect Hiro with the energy life form," he answered.

At that admission, Rose's eyes went wide. "You're not serious, are you? I remember what happened last time you did something. I won't stand for it happening again." She put her foot firmly down.

Hiro looked up from his position on the floor. "We're not asking your permission," he clarified. "You're just kind of here because I guess you were informally invited. It is your space ship, after all."

"My ship," the Doctor corrected.

The boy apologized. "Anyway, I need to contact them, it, or whatever it is. It's important. While I'm sure those UNIT people are good, I don't really trust them."

Rose folded her arms, her bossy expression on her face. "Okay, I can go with that. I'm not sure I exactly trust them either. But that still doesn't change the fact that what you're planning on doing is dangerous."

"Do not worry," Baymax offered. "We are taking every precaution."

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "If you're all done bickering, can we get started? I'm not sure how long it will take the others to realize we're gone, or how long it will take Jack to figure out what we're doing."

That seemed to silence Rose as she moved to sit on the bench seat to watch.

Hiro settled himself more, lowering his sense of gravity as he tried to get comfortable. Closing his eyes, he took several deep, calming breaths to try and get "into the zone".

With a few adjustments, the Doctor held up his screwdriver. "We ready?"

Hiro took one last deep breath before nodding.

Seeing the boy's signal, the Time Lord activated his sonic device, making it thrum with the energy surrounding the rock fragment they'd brought on board.

At first, nothing seemed to happen, except that a slight hum began to sound. But the longer the Doctor held the signal, the stronger the humming became.

For the briefest of moments, Hiro felt a sense of vertigo fill him and he wondered if he was going to either pass out or throw up. Then it simply didn't matter as everything went black.

.............................

Stars shown all around, like little pinpricks of light through black paper. Hiro stood in the midst of the vast field of space, more than a little awed by what he saw. And though he felt as if he stood on solid ground, he could see more stars under his feet. "Whoa," he commented as he took an experimental step back.

"Welcome to the universe," he heard a plethora of voices say in his mind. "We did not expect for you to try and contact us. We are not prepared to show you our form."

Hiro spun around, trying to see if he could discern anything, outside of the stars. "That's okay," he said, having made a full circle. "Maybe it's better this way?"

"You have taken our suggestions and put them to good use. What more do you lack to help us?"

The boy blinked a few times. "Um... a location would be nice," he admitted. "It's better if we can stop those men sooner than later. I don't now what all they have planned, but I know I don't like it. And what about freeing you from those exoskeletons? Wont' some of our methods hurt you?"

The entity laughed, something that sounded almost like the tinkling of bells or wind chimes. "Your concern is appreciated. As we are energy, your methods should not harm us. We can reform. But we will need a vessel to converge on if we are to return home."

That got Hiro thinking. If they'd used an asteroid large enough to put the lights out on the whole planet, they might be in trouble. He wasn't sure how he'd manage to swing something like that. It wasn't like he could just go down to the hardware store and come up with something that big. "That might take some doing," he admitted.

"We will tell you the location. The rest will wait until it is time."

Hiro suddenly felt more lightheaded than before. It was almost as if knowledge was being poured into his head, except that he only saw flashes of words instead of the expected images. And none of those words gave an exact location. It was almost as if they were clues to a crossword puzzle.

"Do not wait long," the entity warned. "The vipers are planning to strike soon. If you wait too long, you will not stand a chance. Take them while they are still weak, otherwise they will reach their goal and you will be powerless."

Before he could ask what that meant, the stars seemed to spin around him, making him feel more than dizzy. He reached out a hand to try and grasp anything stable; only to fall through what appeared to be a black hole. Then his mind went blank.

.............................

"Hiro? Hiro? Can you hear me?"

Voices seemed to echo in his head, buzzing a bit uncomfortably, even though they seemed to come from far away. But at least the ground felt cool against his face. "Ugh," he moaned as he rolled over onto his back and opened his eyes. Slowly, his vision came into focus.

"Welcome back."

For the briefest of moments, Hiro was confused by the dim lighting, the ribbed interior, and the sight of a giant clear cylinder just at the corner of his eye. The brown mop of hair, not quite as long as his own, also seemed to bob around without any real reason, until his eyes tracked together as they were supposed to. He put one hand to his aching head, pushing back his own mop of hair. "What happened?"

"Please remain stationary while your body readjusts," Baymax instructed as he came into view.

Hiro had to close his eyes again, his vision still swimming a bit. "So dizzy," he complained. "I feel like I'm stilling spinning in space."

The Doctor glanced briefly at Baymax, who looked up and blinked. "Not surprising," he commented. "According to your robot friend, you were channeling a lot of energy. Humans aren't made for that kind of ordeal, so it's bound to have some kind of side effects."

"Great," Hiro snarked, his hands lifting a little with the comment, only to fall back to the metal grating below him. "Does that mean my battery's fully charged now?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Baymax raise his hand, one finger pointing out. "A sense of humor is a good indicator of returning functions," he observed.

Hiro groaned again. "I feel totally drained, more like my battery's on empty."

The Doctor gave him a thoughtful look. "It's not really surprising. It's like a battery that's overloaded. Instead of keeping the charge, it loses most of it."

"Not my idea of a good time," Hiro quipped. "How long was I out this go around?"

Baymax calculated before answering. "From initial lose of consciousness to waking, exactly five minutes and thirty seven seconds passed."

"That long, huh?" Hiro joked. "Good times.

Rose broke out a funny looking pouch and handed it to the boy. "Here. Just sip on it like a juice pouch, okay?"

The Doctor's eyes widened at his companion's actions. "I remember those. Taste awful but get you up and running in no time."

Hiro gagged after one sip. "Thanks for the warning," he choked. "This is worse than mud soup." But he obediently took a few more sips. Slowly, the room stopped spinning and he manage to move to a sitting position.

"You are still pale," Baymax observed "I suggest taking things in small steps until you have regained your usual strength."

Hiro patted Baymax's nearest extremity, which happened to be a leg. "Trust me. I'm in no hurry." He took a few more careful sips from the pouch, calculating between each to make sure it would stay put in his stomach.

The Doctor picked up the chunk of space rock from the control panel and tossed it into the air before catching it again. "I hope the side effects are worth the venture," he commented. "Were you able to make contact?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah." He made another face at the awful taste of the thick liquid he was slurping. "Pretty much got a 'keep up the good work' speech, and a crossword puzzle of clues as to where to find the exoskeletons. I guess they moved?"

"Yeah, guess we forgot to tell you that," the Time Lord apologized, realizing the information had been revealed while Hiro had been under the sleeping drug's influence.

A knock sounded on the TARDIS's door. Rose looked questioningly towards the Doctor, who shrugged. She went over and undid the bolt, opening the door just enough to see out. "Yes?"

Jack frowned as he tried to look past her and into the control room. "Just checking in," he said. "Thought you should know Ms. Smith somehow managed to find my cell number and isn't very happy we skipped on her." He pushed a little further, forcing the door open more. "What's going on in here?"

The Doctor pursed his lips. "And what did you tell Ms. Smith?"

Realizing the Time Lord wasn't about to answer his last question, Jack made his way inside the TARDIS and closed the door. "Not much," he admitted, eyes on the Time Lord. "Just that we went out for a bit."

"Good," the Doctor said as he tossed the space rock again. "That's all she needs to know. We've got a good game plan going on and we don't' need her messing things up."

Hiro looked up from his place on the floor, drinking tube in his mouth as he tried to not gag. He wondered if he still looked like crap, then decided he didn't' care. He held up the pouch with an innocent expression. "Want some?"

Jack blinked a few times, then seemed to draw back at the sight of Hiro's offering. "Is that a survival pouch from Davish Seven?" The look on his face was one mixed with revulsion and incredulity.

"Mmmm," Hiro said as he pretended to take another pull at the straw. "Pretty good stuff."

Jack's eyes widened even more and he looked a bit green around the mouth. "You're enjoying that?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Okay. Fun's over. You're going to make Jack puke and I don't want to be the one to clean it up."

The Doctor looked repulsed by the idea. "Yes, let's not. She smelled bad for months last time," he said, patting the console with a bit of a grimace. "Almost couldn't get the stench out."

Hiro let out a gap-toothed grin. "You're right, though," he admitted, "it does taste pretty awful."

Jack glanced questioningly at the Doctor. "Care to tell me why Hiro's drinking that space sludge? Because I know you wouldn't give that to him for just any old reason."

"Long story," the Doctor answered pertly. "Tell you later. For now, we need some paper and something to write with."

Baymax tilted his head to one side as he considered his patient. "Your color has improved," he announced. "If you exercise caution, standing should be permissible now."

"Thanks, Baymax," Hiro said as he used the robot as leverage to get to his feet. He still felt a bit rubbery, but was improving. "Think I can pass off as just looking tired?" He glanced at the three adults in the room.

Rose nodded. "Yeah, probably," she replied.

"Good," the boy nodded. "Then let's get back to the others and try to figure out the message I got."


	28. Different Perspective

Hiro banged his head against the desk repeatedly. Thankfully, there was a notebook between his head and the hard wood. "Stupid! Useless empty brain!"

The three space-traveling companions exchanged worried glances at Hiro's odd behavior. Rose looked towards the group of college-aged heroes, who were simply just lounging around. "Is that normal?" she asked, her expression clearly showing her concern.

"Yep," Wasabi said. "He gets like that whenever he's stuck on an idea. We've seen it many times."

Several hours had passed since the incident in the TARDIS, and though Hiro looked less like death warmed over, Rose couldn't help but wonder if slamming his head repeatedly against a hard surface was a good idea. "Does that really help? I mean, hitting my head against stuff never did me any good."

GoGo impassively popped her gum. "It's par for the course," she said. "In a minute he'll do something drastic to get the blood really flowing."

Rose looked alarmed at that idea, glancing quickly over at the Doctor and Jack to see if they were going to do anything to help the situation. When they both shrugged, she let out a sigh of frustration.

"Baymax," Hiro called out suddenly as he pushed away from the desk. The robot waddled over. "Spot me." Without further warning, Hiro flipped himself up into a handstand. Without any other means to hang upside down, this was the best he could do.

Baymax put out his hand to hold Hiro around the middle, keeping him steady. He turned his head down to keep an eye on his vitals, prepared to end the brainstorming session if he thought it necessary. After all, the boy had been through a lot lately.

Hiro's hair seemed to double in size as it reached towards the floor, another reminder that he should at least get a trim, but that could wait until later. He let out his breath before inhaling deeply. Tadashi had given him this new way of thinking and he was going to use it. He liked to call it "looking at a new angle".

"You sure that's a good idea?" Rose asked as she watched Hiro's face slowly go red.

The Doctor waved that notion aside. "He should be fine. Hanging upside down's good for you every now and again. Makes the blood rush to the brain."

Jack looked rather skeptical of that. "Somehow, I don't think that's how that works," he said as he walked around the room to grab a snack. "How long do you plan on hanging like that?"

Hiro looked up from his position. "As long as it takes," he answered.

Rose pursed her lips. "Hope it doesn't take long or you're going to have one heck of a head rush."

"Fred, can you bring me that paper?" Hiro called out to the lanky mascot.

The closest to the desk, Fred sauntered over and picked up the paper Hiro had been working on. He walked back over and held out the paper for Hiro to see. Hiro instructed him to hold it right side up, making it upside down from his perspective. "Uh, I'm not expert, but maybe it'll work better if you turn it around?"

Hiro shook his head, making his mop of hair dance. "I need to see it from a different angle."

Fred shrugged. "Whatever works, bro."

Honey Lemon decided to turn back to her project. With Jack having successfully reproduced his sleeping serum, she needed to load up the modified darts. Thanks to various suggestions, they all felt confident in the idea that they should pierce through the metal bodies of the exoskeletons.

Looking past the paper to see what she was doing, Hiro had a thought. "Hey, Honey? Did you get that formula ready for the space rock? I'd really love to see some of that chemical metal embrittlement later."

Honey smiled. "I did. The only problem is with getting an electrical current to the metal for the reaction."

The boy smiled at that. "I've already got a solution." He looked up, down for him, at Fred's face. "Hey Fred, how would you like a taser tail?"

Fred almost dropped the paper of clues in his excitement. "That would be awesome! I mean, having a tail to help with balance was cool and all, but making it actually functional? That would be totally amazing."

Hiro nodded, his arms starting to shake just a bit from the unaccustomed exercise of holding up his body weight, as slight as it was. "Good. I'll get on that once I figure this out." He turned his attention back to the paper in front of him, tilting his head to one side. "Huh."

"What is it?" GoGo asked as she pushed away from the worktable she'd been leaning against.

Hiro took a moment to collect his thoughts. "What if it's not a crossword puzzle," he mused. "What if it's directions, just in a different form?"

"You mean, like riddles?" Fred spoke up.

The boy wobbled a bit, but stayed firmly rooted, thanks to Baymax's supporting arms. "Something like that. The entity probably doesn't have as firm a grasp on our language yet, so maybe it's just telling us where in a less specific way than we're used to using."

The Doctor nodded at that logic. "Makes sense. So let's look at those clues of yours again."

Fred had to hurry out of the way as Hiro flipped back over, his hair flopping into his face as he stumbled just a bit. Thanks to the steadying hands of his friends, he safely made it back to the swivel chair without falling over. "Whew," he exclaimed, head down to help slow the rush. "That was fun." He gently shook his head to clear his vision.

"I can always get you another electrolyte pack," Rose quipped as she noted his expression.

Hiro gave a shudder at the idea. "No thank you. I've had enough of that crap to last a lifetime."

Rose laughed while his teammates looked confused. "Couldn't resist," she said with a shrug at the look the Doctor and Jack gave her.

Ignoring Rose, Hiro pulled up a satellite-mapping program on his computer. "Okay, let's see if we can figure out these directions."

..................................

Kim watched as the latest batch of exoskeletons were put to the test. Nothing but perfection would do and she felt the pressure. If things went according to plan, they'd send off a group of pilots to each of the major cities in the surrounding area, staring with San Fransokyo.

Part of her felt a hint of smug satisfaction at the idea of destroying her former employer's assets for good. That professor had done a decent job, but, thanks to those Big Heroes, he hadn't been able to finish the job. And now Krei was back on his feet. Life wasn't fair.

At least the exoskeletons were performing well. And with Thomas's help, she would rise to the top of the technological food chain, in a manner of speaking. Krei had held her back. Ever since that portal incident, losing that pilot, he'd changed. And not in a way she liked. The second incident had given her all the cover she needed to get out.

Thomas's group had come at the ideal time, what with their will bent on world domination. Ethics and morals were easily thrown out the window, which was just fine with her. Who needed them anyway? And when all was said and done, she'd rise to the top while the others bowed down before her.

..................................

Cass decided to take a much-needed break. The usual morning rush had been brutal. And with that guy watching the café, she'd readopted the urge to constantly look over her shoulder. After a while it really wore on her.

Taking a pastry from the display case, she headed for the back while her associates kept on eye on things. Some places were still struggling after the quakes. Maybe that was why her place had become so popular lately.

Needing more than a little air, Cass headed out back. She paused outside the garage when she saw the unknown van parked there, ready to march back for a phone when the garage door flipped open.

Hiro blinked as he almost ran right into his aunt. "Oh, hey Aunt Cass," he called out casually. "Did you need something?" Luckily, their gear was already stowed inside the TARDIS for safe keeping, well out of sight.

Cass stared at the motley crew inside, noting the presence of some old camping gear. Something clicked in her brain. "Have you been out camping recently?" she inquired, looking around for more evidence.

A bit taken aback, Hiro reentered the garage behind her. "No. Why?"

He looked a bit nervous, Cass thought. "When Mr. Krei called the other night, he asked if you'd gone to Mount Diablo." She glanced around again, pausing at the sight of a rugged backpack.

Hiro shook his head. "Nope. Been here the whole time, minus crashing at Fred's place."

Fred waved from his cross-legged position on the floor. He, Wasabi, and GoGo were playing a card game. Jack had teleported back to wherever, trying to find out what UNIT had planned. Rose and the Doctor had ducked behind the TARDIS when Cass came into view. Honey waved from her makeshift lab table. Maybe was on standby.

"If you're sure," Cass said, still not quite convinced. That strange box was still there, taking center stage in the garage.

Hiro took his aunt by the hand, leading her back out of the garage. "I'm sure," he affirmed. "You look like you could use some coffee. Want me to brew you some?"

Cass laughed at that as she shook her head, mussing his hair. "As nice as that sounds, I think I'll pass." The last time Hiro'd tried to brew the drink, he'd managed to melt the insides of the machine. She didn't now how he'd done it, but it was just as well. "I can see you're in the middle of something so I won't get in the way."

The boy grinned back, giving her a big hug. "Thanks," he said. "I need to get a few tools from my room." With that, he dashed for the stairs, leaving his aunt pondering.

..................................

When Hiro returned from his errand, everyone was back in action with last minute preparations. Calling them over, he opened an older man and spread it out on the workbench. "Thanks to Aunt Cass, we now know where to look," he said, all business. Despite all his efforts, they'd come up with blanks on the clues, especially since they didn't have a real point of interest to start with.

He picked up a pencil and circled a decent-sized area on the map. "And if we take those clues into consideration," he started drawing lines and making smaller circles, "we get closer to the target."

Jack leaned over the table. He'd returned moments before Hiro had. "I tried pinging your cell phone," he said, "but it's either dead or deactivated. My guess is it's dead, probably destroyed."

Hiro breathed a sigh of relief. Whoever this viper group was, they couldn't use the data to track down any of his contacts.

"I think that last clue refers to this point," Honey pointed out as she placed a finger on the map. Taking the pencil, she connected some lines. "Which means they're somewhere along here."

Everyone focused on the area indicated on the map. It was in the middle of some kind of preserve, the perfect place to hide a secret base. But it also made being there without some kind of permit illegal.

"Looks like there are a few service roads, but not much else," Rose pointed out. "Course that doesn't mean much if you've got an army at your beck and call."

Jack reached for the pack he'd brought with him. "I brought these should things get ugly," he said, pulling out small oxygen breathers. "They should fit under your helmets. Worse comes to worse, we release my sleeping serum into the air and hope for the best."

The Doctor nodded. "Make sure you give the formula to Honey before we leave."

The captain saluted smartly. "Yes, sir!"

"Oh cut that out!" the Time Lord protested.

Hiro turned to Fred and Wasabi. "Have you guys got our gear all ready to go?"

Wasabi gave a thumb's up. "We're all set there," he confirmed. "Everything's ready to go, painted black just as the Doctor suggested."

Fred patted one of the camping packs they'd pulled out. "Yeah, we've got enough food here to last a week."

"Tent's are already inside," GoGo announced, indicating the TARDIS, "for those who want to sleep under the stars instead of on a bed." She glanced at Wasabi.

The sushi chef gave her a look. "Hey, I've already agreed to ride in that crazy box. Don't expect me to sleep in it."

"Suit yourself." The adrenaline junkie shrugged as she popped her gum loudly.

Glancing over at the red case, Hiro made a mental note to make sure they moved the deactivated robot into the TARDIS once their meeting was over. It wouldn't do to leave one of the most important members of their team behind. "If anyone needs to do any last minute things, I suggest getting them down now. We head out in less than an hour."

Rose bent towards the Doctor to whisper in his ear. "You sure it's such a good idea to let him take charge? I mean, he's still just a kid."

"A very advanced 'kid'," the Doctor reminded. "Don't forget what he's capable of. "You probably don't know, because this is technically your future, but he's going to make a big difference in the world. Just wait and see."

Jack simply stood by, wondering what the Doctor meant by that.


	29. Stupid Jack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's only been a day since I posted the last chapter, but I really just want to get this all out there and am being a bit impatient. The sequel to this is already written and I really can't wait to see what people will think of it. Only five more chapters to the end!

The TARDIS whined and groaned as it settled into place. The floor shook just a bit, then leaned slightly to one side, making several lose items slide towards the far wall.

"Can you seriously make this thing any quieter?" Wasabi asked, sure the entire countryside had heard the awful noise.

This time around had taken slightly longer than the quick jump from the Manor to Hiro's Garage. Whether or not that was because of distance, or other reasons, was beyond any of the Big Heroes, but at least they'd arrived, more or less.

The Doctor shrugged. "Noise never bothered me," he said as he flipped a few levers, setting the mechanism on standby. "Always kind of liked that sound, to be honest."

Jack shook his head, Rose joining him. At least the noise had always alerted them to the Doctor's presence. It was kind of nice, in a way, knowing he was there. But not when they were trying to be stealthy.

"Where exactly are we?" GoGo asked, not sure she wanted to open the door and look out. She moved to walk around the console, stubbing her toe on some grating that had come loose. "Ow." Behind her, Baymax activated.

Looking at the monitor, the Time Lord made a few adjustments. "Looks like she's landed us a good couple miles away from the search area," he answered. "Be a bit of a hike getting there tomorrow. So, I suggest everyone get plenty of rest. I did try to jump ahead a few hours, but one never knows."

Wasabi went for one of the tents. "I'll be outside if anyone needs me," he said, "Unless anyone wants to joint me?" He glanced questioningly towards his friends. When none of them seemed inclined to join him, he shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Heading to the door, the super hero paused, looking back just to make sure no one had changed their minds. When they continued to just stand there, he turned back to the door and opened it, only to stare as the sound of rain filled the silence. "I didn't think the forecast called for rain," he managed, his eyes wide. "Please don't tell me there's thunder."

Almost as if in answer to his question, lighting flashed across the treetops, lighting the sky. He quickly closed the door. "I think I've changed my mind," he managed as the tent dropped from his hand. Thunder accentuated his point, rumbling through the TARDIS's walls.

Hiro resisted the urge to shudder, folding his arms across his chest as if to hold himself together. "That was really loud," he commented, looking more than a little spooked. His words were followed by the sound of rain pelting the outside of the TARDIS.

Without any warning, Hiro felt Baymax's arms wrap around him. He looked up, a bit confused, until he realized there were tears sliding down his cheeks. He exhaled, pressing his spine against the vinyl belly of his robotic friend. The hug tightened just a bit as he managed a wan smile. "Thanks, buddy."

His friends avoided looking his direction, faces down turned as they realized what was going on. It became a shared moment of grief as they each remembered the day of the funeral.

After a rather uncomfortable moment of silence, the Doctor cleared his throat. "Right then," he began. "Maybe we should try and get some rest now. The rain'll make the ground a bit of a mess, but that might turn out to be a blessing in disguise. In the meantime, maybe we can get everyone bunked down for the night?" He glanced over at Rose and Jack.

"Right," Jack said, seeming to jump out of his thoughts. "Assuming nothing's moved, if the boys could follow me, I'll show you to your room." He stepped towards the other end of the TARDIS, heading away from the main doors.

GoGo was the first to move, hoping Jack was right about nothing moving, though she wasn't sure she'd believe it if anything did. She'd spent the last night in a rather nice bedroom with Honey, bunk beds, but not bad. "Let's go," she called to her female associate.

Wasabi reluctantly followed after Fred and Jack, giving a backwards glance at Hiro, who attempted to smile.

"Don't worry," the Time Lord spoke up, "I'll make sure he finds his way."

Still a bit uncertain, Wasabi slowed his pace as he walked past Hiro, pausing to give his hair a bit of a mussing. "You know we're here for you, whenever you want to talk about, right?" he asked, then continued on, not waiting for an answer.

With his friends out of sight, Hiro let his shoulders slump, pressing further into Baymax's soft belly. "Yeah," he finally uttered, eyes downcast. Maybe things would always be like this, the rain making him feel depressed and without energy.

"It will be all right," Baymax said as low-level heat radiated from his core. Sometimes physical things like warmth helped calm the boy. That, and it might help loosen his tense muscles. "There. There." He patted the boy on the head.

Hiro sniffled. "You'd think it would get easier with time," he admitted as he moved to wipe his nose on his sleeve, a rather childish move, but he didn't have a tissue.

The Doctor leaned against one of the consoles as he watched the pair. "It never gets easier," he said, his eyes looking slightly haunted as he remembered all the death he'd seen. "You just learn to deal with it. And, sometimes, it just catches you unawares. It never really goes away, but you learn ways of handling it."

Hiro looked up at that, realizing the Doctor was staring off into space, his arms slightly folded across his chest. The look in his eyes seemed to mirror the pain he felt in his heart, only going much deeper. "You've seen a lot of death?" The question came out more timid than he'd planned, but his throat did feel a bit constricted.

"Yeah." The Time Lord continued to stare out, not really looking at anything. "I watched my whole planet burn, everyone I ever cared about just up and gone. Even for as long as I've lived, it never hurts any less."

Baymax released his hug as Hiro moved to join the Doctor at the console. He waddled after the boy, facing both the Time Lord and his young charge. "Those who suffer a loss require comfort and contact with close individuals," he noted. "Do you have any close contacts or individuals you can ask for comfort?" He glanced at the Doctor with a tilted head, somehow showing his concern. "Rose Tyler, perhaps."

The Doctor seemed to sniffle a bit. Though no tears had actually fallen, his eyes were a little wetter than usual. "Rose has a basic understanding," he admitted. "But she doesn't have the lifespan or context to completely understand. Don't get me wrong; she's suffered a lot of loss. But it's not the same as losing your entire planet."

Hiro glanced up at, his eyes widening. "What happened?"

Still not looking at the boy, the Time Lord tightened his arms around his chest. "War happened," he answered, his voice more hard this time. "No matter how many times you see it, death always effect you on some level. And I see it every day. It's part of who I am, a curse almost. The last Time Lord."

"If you would like, I can offer physical reassurance in the form of a hug," Baymax spoke up, his arms rising slightly as if he wasn't sure if the gesture would be accepted or not.

"Time Lord?" Hiro asked at almost the same time.

Finally turning to look at Hiro, the Doctor nodded. "Time Lord. It might be hard to believe, but I'm over nine hundred years old."

The look on Hiro's face went from shock to a sense of awe, allowing him to at least momentarily forget his own emotional pain. "No way."

"Totally way," the Doctor responded, smiling a bit. A few tears leaked from his eyes and he quickly brushed them aside.

Hiro shook his head in disbelief. "You don't look that old. I mean, for someone as old as all that." He looked at his feet, feeling lame. Most people over the age of thirty looked old to him, but at nine hundred? Well, the Doctor looked really good if that were true.

Shrugging, the Time Lord reached an arm around Hiro's shoulders. "Yeah, well, it's kind of complicated. A bit wibbly wobbly and all that. I've lived many lifetimes, seen a lot of things. A lot of really neat things," he emphasized.

Before either could speak further, Baymax wrapped his arms around them both in a group hug. The Doctor looked a bit surprised but just went with it. After a good minute or two, the older man moved away from the robot's embrace, still sniffling a bit, but more his usual self. "You should get to bed," he admonished the boy. "Big day tomorrow."

Hiro gave a rueful smile. "Yeah." He reached over to give the man an individual hug. "Thanks."

......................................

The rain dampened Kim's mood. And the lightning didn't help either. There was a reason this facility was secondary to their original one. Sometimes it leaked. And when lightning hit too close nearby, well, the power tended to flicker, which slowed production.

"Get those emergency generators online!" she called out to her crew. If they took another hit from the electricity above them, it could cost them at least a day's work. Not only would she be unhappy, but so would Thomas. And she couldn't have that. He tended to get violent when upset. And she was already a bit shorthanded.

"Come on, people! We have less than a week until everything goes down. I want to see it happen in glorious fire!"

.....................................

For the briefest of moments, Hiro wasn't sure where he was. The fabric under his fingers wasn't familiar, nor were the features of the room. He struggled with the blankets, feeling like there was something else there in the bed with him. He thought he felt something slither against his leg but couldn't be sure. He sat up, his heart pounding.

"It is all right," Baymax said as his head came into Hiro's view. "You appear to have had a bad dream, but you are safe."

Hiro lay back against the pillow, one hand pushing back his mop of hair. "Ugh. I hate dreaming about snakes," he confided. He sat back up, wishing he had a clock. "What time is it?" Looking around, he could see Fred across the room, sprawled across the lower bunk. Wasabi's arm hung off of the upper bed.

"It is six thirty in the morning," the robot answered, one finger in the air, something he did whenever he answered most questions.

The boy slumped back for the second time. "Two more hours, huh?" Why did he have to have crappy dreams the night before a major campaign? It wasn't fair. The only good side was that he hadn't dreamed of Tadashi dying or any of the other traumatic events from his past. But snakes, that was something else entirely. He hated them with a passion, ever since he'd come in contact with one as a child.

He shook himself, as if that would free his mind of the images from his dreams. "I think I need some coffee or something," he admitted as he placed his feet on the ground. Not that he really drank coffee. He was more of a hot cocoa kind of guy.

Baymax moved so Hiro could get up from the bunk. "Perhaps it would be wiser to try and sleep longer," he advised. Judging from his patient's actions, however, he doubted that was going to happen, so he shuffled after the boy as he exited the room.

After a couple of wrong turns, one that almost landing him in a giant swimming pool, Hiro found his way back to the control room. He was about to just walk in when he heard voices. Deciding to keep things low key, he chose to peer around the door frame instead of barreling in.

"That's right," he heard Jack say. It looked like the man was talking into an old-fashioned, corded phone connected to the ship's control panels. "The boy managed to figure it out, just as you thought he would. No. I haven't told the others yet, but I won't turn down some backup. How soon? Okay." Then the man hung up.

Hiro couldn't help but stand free of the doorway as Jack turned his direction. He tried to act casual, but the hair on the back of his neck was standing up. Baymax would likely comment about his accelerated heart rate, but wisely chose to remain silent. "Hey," he called out, just in case the space captain hadn't noticed him.

Jack seemed to come out of his reverie at the sound of Hiro's voice. He seemed momentarily surprised, then quickly changed to an almost pleading demeanor. "Hiro," he replied, sounding a bit like a kid who'd been caught stealing cookies. "I didn't know you were awake."

"Um, yeah," Hiro fudged, slowly walking into the room. He felt Baymax behind him. "Who were you calling?" He glanced at the phone now back in its usual position.

Jack cleared his throat. "Ms. Smith," he declared, eyeing the boy like he wasn't sure what he'd do next. "I figured we could use some backup, just in case."

Adopting an almost hands off approach, Hiro laced his fingers behind his back as he strolled towards the Torchwood agent. "So.... Are you working for them? Or maybe for yourself?"

The captain let out a sigh. "I can't believe I'm explaining myself to a kid," he muttered, then shook his head briefly. "Don't get me wrong, I'm sure your team is good, but the best laid plans of mice and men, you know? UNIT is experienced in handling alien tech."

Hiro continued to move towards Jack, now circling him slowly. "But this isn't really alien tech, is it?" he asked smoothly. "I mean, not really. Is it? The metal is alien, but the technology isn't. Maybe that's why the Doctor didn't want them involved?"

Jack might have laughed if this had been under different circumstances. Instead, he swallowed, hard. There was no denying that Hiro was a genius. His creations were pretty amazing for someone his age. But he was also way out of his element. He managed a nonchalant shrug. "Maybe. But are you really prepared to put your team up against a group of bloodthirsty dictators?"

The boy stopped, craning his neck to look up into Captain Harkness's eyes. "When are they going to be here?"

"A couple of hours," Jack admitted, though he wasn't sure why he was telling him that. He was just a kid, for crying out loud! The boy should still be in middle school, or maybe high school or something, not off fighting world despots.

Hiro glanced back towards the doorway he'd come through. "Then I guess we'd better get moving." He turned on his heel in an almost military manner, Baymax following him back through the door.

Jack smacked himself in the head after they left. "Stupid. Stupid, Jack," he admonished himself.


	30. Infiltration

GoGo glared at Jack. She wasn't happy about being woken early, but after having things explained, she was even more unhappy. "How could you?"

Jack looked tired as he hung his head slightly. He knew it was like a slap in their faces, but he also knew what a group of highly trained military types could do to a bunch of kids. And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't see them as anything else.

"Jack. Jack. Jack," the Doctor sighed, shaking his head. "Don't get me wrong. I understand why, but why didn't you come to me first?"

Fred finished settling inside his suit. He didn't flip the head cover up just yet, but he was more than ready to do so at a moment's notice. "Hey, it's done, right?" he reasoned. "No use crying over spilt milk. But if we're going to keep the advantage, shouldn't we be going?"

From over by the TARDIS's main door, Wasabi nodded. They'd all changed into their modified armor, though the sushi chef thought they all looked a bit weird with their gear painted all black. He supposed it wasn't a bad thing to have something more stealthy, but it still just looked wrong. "Might as well," he quipped, more than ready to set foot outside of the strange wooden box.

"Shouldn't we wait to see where we're actually going?" Honey Lemon worried. She clutched her chem. Purse almost nervously. While she didn't like what Jack had done either, she could see the wisdom in it. But she didn't blame Hiro for being upset either.

Hiro settled his helmet in place, activating the tinted face screen. "I'll take Baymax out for a quick look," he offered, his voice harder than usual, along with his expression. "It's still dark so maybe they won't see us if we play things low key."

Knowing he had to try and redeem himself, if only just a little, in the boy's eyes, Jack took a step forward. "I have a better idea," he informed the youth as he pulled out a drone from behind the TARDIS console. "I made a quick trip back to my home base for this. That way we don't tip our hand quite as early."

The expression Hiro gave him said he'd already done that, but he nodded. "Fine." He was just glad it had stopped raining.

...................................

Thanks to Jack's done, they had a more general idea of where they were going. Unfortunately, it took two trips to get everyone within a decent distance of their intended target. Baymax just wasn't big enough to cart the five Heroes and three extra adults all at the same time.

Baymax landed with the last group. He'd managed to find a shelf of bare rock for the purpose. The ground was almost boggy in some places, due to the all the rain. It made hiking more than a little difficult.

"We'll have to go on foot from here," the Doctor announced.

GoGo sighed as she attached her skates to the magnet on her back. "This doesn't look good for mobility," she observed, testing the ground with one booted foot.

Hiro patted Baymax's arm. "You're going to have to hover," he told his companion. "Can't risk getting your repulsers all gunked up."

Jack shouldered his pack. Since the three travelers didn't have super hero gear, they would be relying on more conventional means, which meant they each carried a filled pack. "We'd better get going," the captain observed, as he looked skyward.

Dark clouds still hung low in the sky, promising more rain. But, for now, the air merely remained heavy and damp.

After almost twenty minutes of walking, the group finally came across what could almost be confused for a natural clearing, but it wasn't. Jack pulled out some binoculars and scanned the area.

"Looks like they've got a reinforced entryway," Jack reported, changing the settings on his eyewear. "I don't see any guards out, though. Still, it would take some heavy artillery to break through that door."

The Doctor borrowed the binoculars, looking for himself. "You're right. I'm not exactly sure we want to go that route. Might as well ring the doorbell if we do."

Hiro tried to peer closer at the camouflaged base. "There's got to be another way in, a back door or some kind of access for waste." He glanced up at Baymax. "What've you got, buddy?"

Baymax turned his head to look at the whole façade. "This structure is interfering with my sensor," he announced. "However, I detect a structural anomaly in that direction." He pointed towards the far end of the clearing.

Pointing the binoculars in that direction, the Doctor grunted. "Looks like a possible secondary entrance," he mused. "Can't be sure without getting closer though."

Something moved near the point in question. "Wait a minute," the Time Lord called out. "Definitely an opening. I see someone standing at the entrance." He strained to wiggle a bit closer, without leaving the cover of the trees. Then he tsked. "Looks like someone needed a smoke break."

"That's our in," Hiro decided, pulling back. Facing his team, the youth sketched on a clear stretch of mud with a stick. "Okay, we're going in blind, but keep your eyes sharp. Hopefully our radio frequency won't be picked up by the others, but stay close to your partner, just in case. And only communicate with the others when necessary."

The college students nodded grimly. This wasn't like the time they'd gone after Callaghan. This was an active base, with a lot of hostiles. Chances were good they were way over their heads with this one.

Honey Lemon clutched her purse with a look of determination. Fred practically bounced on his spring-loaded feet, ready for action. With his upgrades, he and Honey made the best team. Rose stood close by, dart gun in hand. They made up one team.

Jack nodded at GoGo and Wasabi. It was hard to let the kids take the lead, but after his little misdeed, he decided it was wise to play along. Besides, the two did have some great tech, even if their personalities weren't what he'd hoped to bring into battle. Wasabi was too timid, and GoGo too eager.

Hiro turned to the Doctor and Baymax. Both Time Lord and robot wore unreadable expressions. "Any last minute advice?" he asked the older man, his mouth suddenly feeling dry.

The Time Lord nodded. "Try not to hurt anyone," he said. "But realize that sometimes it's unavoidable. Keep on your toes and trust your instincts."

They all nodded at those words, hoping they wouldn't have to take anyone out, but knowing it was a possibility. At a nod, the teams began to move towards the opening. Whoever had come out for a quick drag had gone back inside. Or so they hoped.

"One more thing," the Doctor said, pulling Hiro back for a moment. "You need to remember that there's a good chance you will be effected by what's about to happen, in ways the others won't be. If the alien entity really is trapped in those exoskeletons, destroying the suits might cause you physical problems. I don't care what they may have told you. If that happens, you're to pull back. Understood?" His glanced went from the boy to his robot.

Baymax blinked behind his black helmet. "I will make sure Hiro does not come to any harm," he announced.

Hiro nodded, his eyes a bit wide, realizing the Doctor was right. Going in there really could be a bad idea, but he couldn't see any other way.

...............................

The entrance they'd found was actually more of a service tunnel. There was enough room for them to walk two by two, or, in Baymax's case, one at a time. And he had to duck.

"Okay," Hiro whispered as they came to the far end of the tunnel, which ended with a metal door and a keypad. "Here we go." He cracked his knuckles before trying to unscramble the lock code was but beaten by the Doctor, who simply waved his sonic screwdriver at it. The door clicked open. The boy stared at him in surprise.

Shrugging, the Doctor pocketed his device. "Faster than hacking," he explained. "And less likely to trigger an alarm."

Hiro saw the wisdom in that and cautiously pushed the door open, Rose standing next to him in case they needed to tranquilize anyone right off the bat. Their luck held and no one was in the immediate area, which looked like a small waiting area, with a makeshift table and chair. It was probably just a guard post, witch whoever was supposed to be there either on a bathroom break or just wandering off.

Jack moved in, sweeping the room for cameras or other monitoring devices. "Clear," he called, his dart gun at the ready as well.

Hiro took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. "Okay, here's where we split off. Ideally, if we can find some kind of control room, we might find a kill switch. Not sure if that'll happen, but we can hope. Try to keep a low profile and if you get into trouble, call for help. And remember, regular darts are for infiltration. Reinforced darts are for the exoskeletons."

Fred flipped his head cover into place. Out of all the Big Heroes, his was the only one not painted black. It was kind of hard to paint. That, and Fred thought it would be more menacing that way. He gave an awkward looking salute.

At a nod from Jack, his team moved off, the first through the next set of doors. Since he seemed to have the most experience with infiltration, they'd opted to let him go first, just in case. Wasabi and GoGo followed a few seconds behind.

Mentally counting out the seconds, Hiro nodded to the second team, motioning them to go forward when they heard no sounds of alarm. Rose took point as Honey and Fred followed her into the hallway beyond.

Baymax, who was now thankfully able to stand upright, stood waiting for his group to head out. "I feel compelled to remind you that my strengths are best suited to more open areas," he said in a quiet voice.

Hiro nodded. "I know, buddy, but we'll do the best we can." He gave his robot companion a pat as he finished counting out the appropriate time, then moved towards the door. "Let's go."

...............................

Fifty feet down the first hallway another corridor branched off. As it seemed to move more towards the center of the complex, Jack opted to head that way.

Wasabi kept looking over his shoulder, as if expecting someone to pop out of the walls at any moment. GoGo simply ignored him as she skates carefully behind the space captain, her flying discs ready for action.

Up ahead, voices sounded, two, possibly three. Jack held up a hand to halt the group as they came upon another corner, the voices getting louder.

"You think that women ever sleep?"

"Nah, probably just cat naps."

Jack signaled for GoGo to get ready, just in case. He then motioned for Wasabi to just wait. Carefully edging towards the corner, he tilted his gun to angle around the bend. Two quick shots sent t he conversing men into a nice, long nap.

Just as Captain Harkness was about to stride forward, he caught sight of someone exiting a room just a few yards further down. But before he could bring his weapon to bear, a dark disc flew out, clocking the third man in the head, before returning to GoGo's hand. "No bad," he commented.

GoGo rolled her eyes as she chewed on her gum. "Whatever." Wasabi merely shook his head, waiting for his turn.

.............................

Rose felt her hackles rise as Fred hummed a rather catchy tune. Luckily, they hadn't come across anyone yet, but they might. She motioned him to silence.

Ahead, Honey Lemon noticed an elevator and she moved to check it out. The call button only showed a down arrow. "Looks like the important stuff is underground," she observed.

"We should totally check it out," Fred said as he practically bounced over. "Maybe that's where they keep the exosuits." Without asking permission, or thinking, he pressed the call button.

Rose stared at him. "What do you think you're doing?" she hissed.

Catching onto her warning tone, Honey typed a formula into her purse's keypad, grabbing the resulting chem. Ball it spat out. She grit her teeth at the sound of machinery humming.

The elevator chimed and the doors opened. Two techs stared out with open mouths. Before they could do anything else, though, Honey threw her chem. Ball while Rose let a dart fly. Foam pressed one tech against the far wall while the other slumped to the floor.

Fred stepped into the elevator and sucker punched the still conscious tech. "So far so good," he quipped.

Rose and Honey exchanged glances.

..............................

The Doctor ran his sonic screwdriver, trying to detect anything that might be useful. Since Hiro did have any weapons of his own, he opted to give the boy his dart gun. At least until he could fly on Baymax, though he did have second thoughts about the idea.

The Time Lord whacked his device against the palm of his hand. "Signals' a bit wonky," he confessed at the boy's look.

Hiro gave a look of understanding. Whatever material they'd used to construct this place was also messing with Baymax's sensor. "Let's keep going."

His companion nodded, slipping the screwdriver back into his pocket, then continued walking. "Little surprised we haven't come across anyone yet," he confessed.

Moments after he spoke, Baymax paused. "I am detecting signs of life," he announced, pointing towards an upcoming corner.

The Doctor whipped his screwdriver out so fast he almost ripped his pocket out. Pointing the device at the ceiling, her thumbed on the device. Seconds later, sparks erupted as the lights went out.

Hiro ducked behind Baymax. He felt more than a little relieved that he'd thought to include a night vision setting with all their upgrades, quickly switching it on. Voices of confusion filled the air, followed by the sound of gunfire.

"This is Sector Seven. We have a breach! Repeat! We have a breach!"

The boy's hands shook as he poked around Baymax to aim the dart gun. His shot went wide, still hitting one of the five guards in the area before the Doctor managed to pull him in the opposite direction, the dart gun falling to the ground.

Hiro almost stumbled at the unexpected action but didn't question it. He rather thought the Doctor was more like he was, more of a strategist than a fighter. "Baymax!" he hissed, just in case the robot hadn't followed them.

The robot's heavy footsteps sounded behind them, giving Hiro a sense of relief. The next moment, he felt Baymax's large hand tap him from behind. "We will move faster if you both climb onto my back," he announced in a whisper.

Hearing this, the Doctor paused long enough to clamber aboard, Hiro securing himself in the middle by way of the electromagnets. Once they were both secure, more or less, Baymax shot forward as he hovered over the ground. Luckily, the corridors were wide. And if there were any in their way, they either ducked or vanished because neither Hiro nor the Time Lord heard the telltale thunk of hitting anything solid.


	31. Confrontation

The elevator settled, the chime sounding as it reached the lower of three floors. Honey held a chem. Ball ready to hurl. Rose wielded the dart gun, her pack slightly open so she could switch out to the reinforced darts if necessary.

Slowly, the doors opened and Fred almost hopped out. Rose grabbed his arm at the last second. And it was a good thing she had.

Several work stations stood a dozen or so yards away from the elevator, with techs concentrating on their work. Honey counted six stations with four workers each. And beyond them was an assembly line, where various parts slowly ran down the conveyor belt.

"I think we've found the main manufacturing area," Honey whispered as they peered around the opening. The doors slid closes and she quickly pushed the stop button, in case anyone tried to call the car to another floor.

Rose nodded. "If we can take this area out, that should put a huge dent in their plans. We just need a distraction."

At that moment, an alarm began to sound. "Intruder alert! Intruder alert!"

It took Rose a moment to realize the sound was coming from a headset on one of the techs they'd take out. She quickly relieved him of the device, plugging the earpiece into her other ear.

"We have a breach on ground level. Repeat. All available units respond."

Honey looked into Rose's eyes. "Looks like we have our distraction."

Fred practically danced up and down as he clapped his hands. "It's tranq time!"

They each quickly put on the small masks Jack had provided, then pressed the button to open the doors. Overhead, a red light flashed, but the workers continued their tasks, albeit looking a bit nervous.

Honey chunked a chem. Ball, sending pastel foam flying. Her next volley was heated by Fred's fire, evaporating the sleeping agent into the air.

A few techs called out in alarm, starting to run in panic. Others went to storm the intruders, but with the second volley of sleeping gas, their movements became sluggish. One by one, they fell to the ground. Rose aided by darting those least effected by the gas.

Honey nodded to the still moving conveyor, motioning for Fred to join her there. She programmed in another formula and threw it at the belt, causing the rubber to warp as the acid ate through it.

Rose waved towards a large machine that reminded Honey of a 3D printer, only much bigger. The chemist smiled behind her mask as she typed in another formula, getting three chem. Balls back this time. She handed them to the Londoner.

Rose bowled the balls into the mechanism while Fred began spouting fire at the remains of the conveyor belt. She pulled the dart gun to bear and expertly fired at the three balls in the machine.

Their skin breeched, the chem. Balls rapidly expanded with industrial grade plastic foam, filling the crevices and gumming up the machine. For good measure, Fred zapped the thing with his upgraded taser tail.

Jerking her head to indicate they should return to the elevator, Rose led the way back through the chaos, the others following close behind her.

...................................

Thomas almost flew into a rage when he heard the alert over the radio. "What is going on!" he yelled as he stomped into the main command center.

All around, techs and other officers manned computers, running scans and sensor sweeps. "Sir, we have a breach on ground level," one tech announced. "No information yet on who, what, or how many.

Their leader growled as he slammed a fist down on a workstation, cracking the plastic. "I want them found! Seal off all doors. Activate all available exos and find them!"

...................................

Wasabi's group found an empty observation room. It overlooked a deep arena, similar to the one Hiro had described from his dreams. "Guys, I think we've found those exoskeletons," he said, pointing down at the batch of four machines being put through their paces.

The power flickered as Jack moved closer, then an alarm began to flash.

"What did you do?" GoGo accused, looking at the captain with incredulous eyes.

Jack glanced around, trying to determine if he'd somehow triggered something. "They must have discovered the others," he reasoned when he couldn't find anything wrong.

Down below, people scrambled. From somewhere under them, six more exoskeletons appeared. "Not good," Jack uttered, then activated his radio. "We've encountered the target. Repeat. We've encountered the target. If you're able, backup would be nice." He then gave basic instructions on where they were while changing out the darts in his gun for the modified ones.

....................................

"That's Jack's voice," Hiro said as he touched one hand to his communications device. "Baymax, let's go!"

The robot changed course to try and locate the distressed party. He fired his thrusters, sending those chasing them flying from the force.

The Doctor pointed his device at a steel door closing ahead of them, trying to overload the mechanism. He blinked as a giant black fist barreled ahead, smashing the door from its track seconds before they passed through it. The hand hovered for a second before rejoining with Baymax's arm. "Allonsy!" the Time Lord yelled in excitement.

.................................

The elevator jammed. It simply stopped moving, as if someone had cut the power. But the lights still shone inside.

"No! No! No!" Honey exclaimed as she repeatedly jabbed the button for the ground floor. If only Hiro or Wasabi were there, they could do something to make it work again. She mostly wished for Hiro.

Rose glanced upwards, noting the emergency hatch. "Think you can reach that?" she asked, pointing up.

Honey followed the direction the Londoner indicated, biting her lip. "Let's see," she answered, going onto tip toes to push the hatch open. "Got it!" She grabbed the lip with her fingers and pulled herself through the opening.

Fred went down on one knee, offering to help boost Rose to the top. When she questioned how he'd get out, he merely shrugged.

With Honey's help, Rose made it to the top of the elevator. "Best move to one side," she observed as she sidestepped a supporting cable. Rose did the same.

The next moment, Fred all but flew from the car, going a couple yards into the air before safely landing on the metal box. Just to be safe, the lizard looking man kicked the escape hatch closed. "Well, that was fun. Where do you think we are?"

Honey Lemon looked around, realizing the car had stopped between two floors, bringing them closer to the first level just below the ground floor. "Looks like that's our best option," she indicated the next door up.

Rose nodded. "I think you're right. Be a bit of a jump." The lip next doorway was almost five feet up from their current position. And they had no way of knowing where that door led.

"Should we risk it?" Fred asked, looking up at the metal frame with some misgivings. "I mean, what if we end up right in the middle of bot central?"

Rose's shoulders sagged slightly, the lanyard of her gun chaffing between her shoulder blades. "We don't really have a choice. The Doctor and the others need us."

A sequence of quiet beeps announced that Honey had prepared another chem. ball. "Stand back," she warned. "This might get messy." She threw the ball towards the edge of the elevator. Hardening foam expanded upwards, and probably downwards. "Easier than jumping," she explained.

Luckily, the foam hardened quickly and, in time, they were level with the next door. No one chose to mention the added benefit of how unlikely it was for the elevator to move anywhere, cutting off one more access route to the enemy.

Rose triggered the door sensor, making the metal sheets slides apart. Beyond them lay a more open space. "Let's go," she said with a wave of her hand. She didn't wait to see if the others followed or not.

................................

Jack cursed under his breath. Another set of exoskeletons had joined those already in the arena below, bringing the total to twenty. "Be advised," he called over his comm. Unit, "we have twenty exos. They're still gathering. Maybe it's a pre-flight thing, but I doubt they'll stay there for long."

"Understood," Hiro's voice returned over the radio. "We're on our way."

Wasabi shook as he watched the activity below. "Shouldn't we do something? Go after them or something?"

GoGo gave him an incredulous look. "Do you have a death wish? We can't take them all on our own."

The neurotic engineer gave a sigh of relief. "Thank heaven for that."

Jack rolled his eyes. "We sit tight and wait for the others. Then, we break out the window in the chaos and try to shoot them down from here."

Just to be safe, he went to the door and locked it. "We don't need unexpected visitors," he explained.

.........................................

Baymax continued to fly through the large corridor, quite a trail of enemy guards behind them. "Our pursuers seem to be in excellent health," the robot observed.

"I'm not exactly worried about that right now, buddy," Hiro exclaimed. "But we do need to lose them. Any ideas, Doc?"

The Doctor looked up at the unexpected nickname. "Hmm?" It took a moment to pull himself away from other thoughts. "Right. Maybe the best course of action is to push our way through?"

Hiro considered that for a moment. An elevator shaft would be ideal. He scanned ahead. "There!" He pointed towards what looked like a service elevator at the far end of the hall. "Baymax!"

The robot looked in the direction of the elevator and put on a burst of speed. More bullets ricocheted off of his armor as he landed, his back to the metal doors to shield his passengers.

Once he'd slid off Baymax's back, the Doctor slammed a fist into the call button. "Going down?" he asked as the bell chimed.

.......................................

Honey Lemon held her purse defensively as her group slowly moved through the open space. On either side, a corridor seemed to reach out. But right in front of them stood a slightly ajar door.

Pushing the door open further, Rose made hand motions to the others. She indicated that she would go first and that the other two should follow her lead.

Fred adjusted his suit, a grin plastered on his face. He was more than ready for some real action. What had happened downstairs didn't count.

Honey gave a firm nod. Her fingers twitched, ready to type out a chemical equation.

Rose moved through the doorway, dart gun at the ready. She swept her gaze from side to side, then motioned for the others to follow her inside.

They seemed to be in some kind of observation tunnel, exoglass separating them from the activity below. The ground below was maybe a dozen feet down. The walkway seemed to span the whole perimeter.

"Look," Honey whispered, pointing down. In the main area below them swarmed at least fifteen, maybe twenty exoskeletons.

Fred squinted as he peered around, pausing when he saw something interesting a level up from theirs. "Hey, guys, I think I found Jack and the others."

Just as the others looked up, a freight elevator opened its doors across the area. The open doors revealed Baymax, with Hiro still on his back. And standing next to them was the Doctor, his sonic screwdriver in hand.

Almost as if linked by one mind, the machines turned towards the elevator. And it looked like neither Hiro nor the Doctor was armed with anymore more than what was visible.

"Not good," Fred uttered. "We need to give them some serious backup. Like, now."

Honey punched in a familiar sequence, throwing the resulting orb at the window.

..................................

When the doors opened, Hiro was decidedly not prepared to face twenty fully armed exoskeletons. And he definitely wasn't ready to see them all pointing their weapons at the elevator he and his companions were in. But even more unexpected was the sudden explosion that blew out the glass above them. Well, above and beyond, technically.

Then Honey Lemon came flying out from behind the broken glass, with Fred close behind her. And, a little further behind, Rose came into view, only she didn't jump to the ground like the other two had. She took up a position from her perch and readied her gun.

"Oh crap," Hiro uttered. They were certainly in it now. Kicked the hornet's nest and everything.

Without warning, Baymax took a running start out of the elevator, then fired off his thrusters, sending them into the air. At least there was room for that to happen. Baymax was at his best in an area that allowed him to really move about, especially when he could fly.

Several of the exoskeletons also took to the air. They must have gotten the idea from their first encounter, Hiro realized as he clung to Baymax's back, more than thankful for the magnets that kept him from flying off.

A chem ball flew through the air, sticking to one of the machines targeting Hiro. It exploded on impact, enveloping the thing in pastel foam. The foam covered the thrusters, making them unusable and the exoskeleton went down.

But before Honey could lob off another chem ball, the others seemed to realize she was there and began advancing on her position. Hiro called out a warning as Baymax dived toward to evade a hail of bullets. Even with the upgrades, there were parts of Hiro that were not strictly covered.

"Roar!" Fred yelled as he let loose a bout of fire. Unfortunately, like before, his flames didn't seem to phase the skeletal pods. Soon, he had his own group chasing him around the arena.

The sound of more glass breaking came from higher up, though it was lost in the confusion. A yellow disc sailed through the air, knocking into one of the machines chasing Hiro. It shuddered as several small components were damaged. The disc sailed back towards where it had come from.

Fred, realizing his flames weren't doing much, decided to change tactics. He found a spare piece of metal and began whacking away with it. Using it as a shield, he drew closer to one of the attacking party and spun. His tail rammed into the side of his target. "Taser tail!" he yelled as he activated the circuit and electricity flowed freely into the exoskeleton, overloading the controls. The thing stumbled as its pilot got zapped from within.

Two out of commission. Eighteen to go.

Honey managed to launch herself into the air with another chem ball, throwing another one at the closest target. Industrial foam erupted over the exoglass, making it impossible for the pilot to see out. It stumbled, falling to the ground.

"Look out!" Rose called out as she sighted her scope on another exoskeleton targeting the chemist. She squeezed the trigger and a modified dart flew towards the machine.

Glass spider-webbed as the dart penetrated the lower part, near the pilot's chest. The small projectile imbedded in the flesh and the pilot went down.

Sixteen to go.

Baymax made another sweep around the perimeter, trying to shake the four exoskeletons on his tail. He went into a spinning dive, firing off one of his rocket fists. The black metal collided with one of the flying pods, knocking it off course before returning to the robot's arm. Baymax had to perform another set of quick dives and rolls to protect Hiro's back as the remaining three fired back.

"This isn't working," Hiro said over the radio. "We need to take more down or we'll wear out before they do."

At that moment, Wasabi decided to join the fray by making a flying leap out of the observation room's window. He let out a half scream as he managed to grab hold of one of the flying exoskeletons, using his plasma blades to slash off the gun it had aimed at Hiro.

But, before he could do any more damage, another machine buzzed by, shooting a long bout of flame. Wasabi dropped through the fire, landing hard on the ground.

"Oh no you don't," GoGo exclaimed as she launched herself out of the window. She aimed too low and missed her intended target, tumbling towards the ground below. Fortunately, Fred was there to break her fall. Unfortunately, they both went down in a jumble of legs and arms.

Jack fired several darts, one hitting his target, the others glancing off the armored bodies. He uttered a low curse and fired again, pausing only at the sound of someone trying to break into the observation room.

Rose jumped from her perch as the far doors opened on her level. "We've got more company," she declared, somehow managing to roll on impact with the ground.


	32. Battle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I know it's a longer chapter, but I couldn't stand cutting it up, so, in honor of my hubby's birthday, here you go!)

Honey was backed up into a corner, guns aimed at her but not firing. She looked around, counting five exoskeletons in a loose semi-circle around her. "Fred, I need some backup," she called over the radio, her fingers flying over the periodic table buttons on her purse.

Fred shook his head, trying to clear his vision. He'd definitely not expected GoGo to make a flying tackle to his back. But when he heard Honey's call for help, he jumped to his feet, activating his super jump to clear the four machines bearing down on his position.

Two more leaps brought him to Honey's side. "Someone ask for a fire breathing lizard?" He grinned behind his mask.

While Fred's arrival provided a distraction, Honey Lemon pressed the last button, resulting in three chem balls. "Roast them, Freddie," she called out as she let the balls fly.

Each orb slammed into an exoskeleton, coating them with pink residue. Fred spun as he blasted them with fire, his tail more than ready to apply the necessary electric charge.

The fire seemed to momentarily confuse the pilots and the two not covered in pink backed up a step. The three covered pods didn't allow sight of what was happening so their operators were unprepared for the sudden jolt of electricity that hit them.

"Yeah!" Fred whooped as the nearest skeleton fell to the ground, the metal exploding in a cloud of pink dust. His tune changed a second later when a bullet slammed into his arm from somewhere above.

Honey called out as she ran to her friend. "Freddie!" Two more explosions of pink heralded the destruction of the other two pods, giving them some momentary cover.

Fred panted as the bullet wound burned. Luckily, it had passed clean through his flesh, but he was bleeding. Somehow he managed to rip his shirt and tried to tie it around the wound. Honey had to pull his helmet off to help him.

More bullets rained down from above as men in black fatigues ran onto the observation area Rose had abandoned. They lined the walkway, aiming at all intruders below.

............................

"Fred has been injured," Baymax reported as he spun to avoid more bullets. They still had four on their tail, three from the original bunch, with an additional newcomer from Fred's previous group.

Below, Hiro caught sight of Honey and Fred, with two exoskeletons still near them. GoGo seemed occupied with the three remaining who had tried to corner Fred earlier. Two more were harassing Wasabi. He didn't see Jack or the Doctor, but noticed Rose had found something to use as cover.

Added to that were at least twenty armed men lining the catwalk halfway up the wall, each firing semi-automatic guns. "Not good," Hiro said, his eyes going wide. They were decidedly outnumbered. And with Fred hurt, their chances of making it out alive were rapidly decreasing.

"I'm fine," Fred's voice came over the radio. "But we gotta do something about the new company. I know I didn't invite them."

At that moment, the power inside the building seemed to fail. The lights all went out and the ventilation shut down with a groan.

"Let's see how well you do in the dark!" the Doctor exclaimed over the headset. "Allonsy!"

Almost as if in answer to his challenge, the exoskeletons turned on some kind of headlights, illuminating the area in an almost eerie glow.

Wasabi's blades glowed in the dim light as he took a swipe at one of the machines near him. "Take that!" he yelled as he severed one of the legs, sending the thing careening to one side. Ten machines remained.

Jack's gun sang as he opened fire on the men on the catwalk. He'd switched to the regular darts, donning night vision goggles when the lights went out. Several men tumbled to the ground or fell from the walkway to land with loud thuds on the arena floor. "I've got the men with guns," he announced to the group of heroes. "You guys focus on the others."

He ignored the continuous pounding on the door to his sanctuary, hoping the metal would last. It had eased a bit with the power out, but Jack knew that was only a false sense of security. The enemy would continue to try and get in, one way or another.

Realizing Jack was trying to give them a chance, Hiro glanced around, his infrared setting automatically kicking in on his visor. Did the exoskeletons have night vision too, he wondered. Probably. The four on his tail hadn't let up, only pausing as if to adjust to the change in lighting conditions.

Baymax swerved to avoid a bout of flame one of the exoskeletons sent their direction. Hiro could feel the heat against the bottom parts of his legs, where his ankles were exposed. He winced slightly as the heat got a little much when another pod decided to add its fuel to the fire.

From her position, Rose dropped to her belly, wiggling closer to the group harassing GoGo. With three, she was decidedly outnumbered, the Londoner thought, and decided to even the odds. She brought her gun to bear, aiming carefully, then fired.

The dart spiraled out of the barrel and rammed into the backside of the metal frame she'd been aiming at. Unfortunately, it didn't penetrate all the way through. However, it managed to break into the oxygen reclamation region, where it cracked open, dripping sleeping serum into the chamber.

Meanwhile, Honey managed to lob another chem ball at one of the two remaining enemy targets near her and Fred. The resulting goo clouded the pod's window but did not disable it. The other pod fired its flamethrower at its partner, evaporating the gunk on its exoglass. But Honey was ready with two more chem balls, which she threw as hard as she could. "One more time!" she called out to Fred.

The lizard-suited student groaned as he turned to activate his own spurt of fire at the two oncoming enemies. His flame seemed to battle with theirs as sweat beaded up on his skin. "Come on!" he yelled, then spun to connect his tail with the bots.

Sadly, they'd seen this move before. One exoskeleton sidestepped the tail while the other swung a massive arm at the costumed hero. Fred went sailing, slamming into the wall with a thud. Honey Lemon soon followed.

Hearing the groans of his comrades, Wasabi seemed to lose it. He let out an incomprehensible exclamation as he ran head on towards the machine attacking him, not heeding the spray of bullets that tried to take his life. With a mighty heave, he plunged forward, his plasma blades embedding themselves into the joints of the thing and it went down.

With his opponents out of the way, the physicist ran to Honey and Fred's aide. But one of the exoskeletons that had been targeting Hiro and Baymax broke off and headed towards him, bullets blazing a trail of destruction.

GoGo managed to evade the attacks focused on her by the three bots, skating around in an almost mad frenzy. She threw one of her discs, slicing into the one Rose's dart had almost taken out. It didn't go far enough in though, before returning to the adrenaline junky's hand. Thankfully, the serum was starting to have an effect on the pilot inside and the thing drunkenly tottered into one of the others, momentarily sending both off kilter. One righted itself. The other stayed down.

The momentary confusion was all Rose needed to send another dart into the third exoskeleton. This time she managed to penetrate the lower metal region, the dart glancing off the pilot's leg. It didn't take long for the chemicals to react, causing another pod to go down.

Still dodging the attacks of the remaining enemy units in the air, Baymax fired off another fist, which missed the target. But, on coming back, it clipped a second bot, sending it spinning off into the far wall. It didn't get back up after sliding to the ground. Six left, with three of them still on their tail.

Wasabi made it to Fred's side, but he had one exoskeleton blazing a trail of bullets right behind him. When he turned to confront the attacking party, his eyes went wide. Inside this skeletal frame was not a human but some kind of robot. "Not good," he exclaimed, quickly running the other direction. The robot followed him. "Guys, some of these aren't piloted by people!" The other two exoskeletons joined him since the two they'd cornered weren't moving.

GoGo ran for the other exoskeleton targeting her, her helmet now partially cracked. She threw one of her discs, then the other. Somehow, the machine managed to avoid both. Realizing the pilot inside was also not human, but a robot, she tried to switch tactics, skating as far away from the thing as possible.

Jack continued to fire on the men on the catwalk, sending several more into sleepy time. But they were replaced by fresh guards. "Oh crap!" he exclaimed as he realized what was going on. There had to be another way to bottle up the gap. He checked his watch, wondering if backup would ever come.

While he was busy checking his watch, one of the militants noticed Rose and aimed. The bullet slammed into her leg and she went down, rolling in agony. "I've...been hit!" she exclaimed as she dropped her dart gun and tried to control the bleeding.

The Doctor ran out from wherever he'd been hiding the moment he heard Rose's cry of pain. The look on his face was almost scary. "Oh no you don't," he said in a calm but deadly voice. "Not on my watch." He held his sonic screwdriver high in the air, ready to press the one button he knew could cause mass chaos.

Hiro saw him out of the corner of his eye, a sudden dread filling his stomach. "Baymax!"

The robot turned to see what was going on, making the same connection Hiro had. "Oh no," he uttered as he reversed course, giving himself enough room to dive bomb the area.

One of the exoskeletons chasing Wasabi broke off to target the Doctor, slowly moving to his point. It raised its gun turret. "Surrender or die," a mechanical voice came from inside.

The Doctor stared at the robotic thing inside the pod, his expression hardening. "I don't think so," he said, a hint of malice in his voice. Then, without any further warning, he pressed the button on his screwdriver.

The most awful sound filled the air as the device resonated with all of the space metal in the room. But instead of having the same sound level as it had inside Fred's place, the sound multiplied by ten, magnified by the Doctor's tinkering while the others had been under fire.

Hiro felt his head explode in a blinding flash of light as he screamed at the top of his lungs. The pain was unbearable, like every particle in his body was fighting to break free. He removed his hands from the magnets on Baymax's back to press against his helmet, willing his body to stay in one piece.

Realizing the effect the Doctor's actions had had on Hiro, Baymax changed course, trying to stabilize his flight to keep the boy from falling off. However, one of the two exoskeletons still on their trail somehow seemed to malfunction and collided with the robot, sending them both off their original courses.

The impact knocked Hiro free from the connecting points at his knees and he flew free of Baymax's armor. Luckily, they'd lost altitude before this happened, but it didn't stop the boy from impacting with the ground at a more than safe rate.

Jack had taken the momentary lull before the Doctor activated his sonic to insert earplugs into his ears. It didn't totally cancel out the noise, but it helped. Shaking his head, he reloaded his dart gun and took aim at the men on the catwalk. They made easy targets, their hands pressed to ears as they tried to block out the noise as well.

Wasabi stumbled on some debris on the arena floor, going down as the noise threatened to overwhelm him. He covered his ears with his hands, curling into a crouch, not caring if the bots trailing him were still there are not.

GoGo slammed into the wall, disoriented by the sound. She let out a grunt on impact, her discs falling from her hands, skates lying next to her. The exoskeleton that had been following her paused and the metal seemed to buckle as the sound the sonic screwdriver made resonated with the metal, warping it.

Rose slammed her hands over her ears at the sound, her wound tied off for now with scraps from her clothing. She glanced up to see the Doctor holding his device high, the green light radiating like a beacon as he held the frequency. She quickly glanced around at the destruction around her. "Doctor! Stop!"

But the Doctor didn't seem to hear her. His expression was almost murderous and it scared her. Tearing more strips from her shirt, Rose stuffed them into her ears. It wasn't perfect, and the noise still jarred her brain, but she could at least think.

One of the exoskeletons near Wasabi tottered to one side, the metal groaning in protest. The signal fried the robot pilot's internal circuits, made from the same metal as the exoskeleton.

The other pod that had been targeting Baymax simply dropped from the air, landing with a thud that made a large dent in the metal floor.

From across the arena, Baymax had slammed into the wall, his side scraping down the length of it, until he reached the ground. He shook his head as if to clear his vision, an action that was meant more to unscramble his damaged super sensor than anything else. "Hiro!" He looked around, trying to find the boy.

Rose dragged herself across the floor, her leg trailing behind her. Each pull towards her target was agony, fire coursing up her leg, but she wasn't about to give up. She knew the look the Doctor had on his face. She'd seen it several times and knew what it meant. He had to be stopped or he wouldn't stop.

"Doctor!" she called out again as she paused for rest. Still not close enough, she found something to help her stand and stumbled towards the Time Lord. "Stop!"

The distance slowly closed between them and Rose felt her body growing heavier with each staggering step. Finally, she came to within a few feet of the man and threw herself at him. Her body collided with his, breaking his hold on the sonic screwdriver. The device fell from his hand, deactivating.

The silence was intense and it took Wasabi a moment to realize it was over. But as soon as he did, he bolted towards the exoskeletons that had been after him, slicing their legs off with his plasma blades, just in case.

The ventilation came back on with a sort of whine as the power was restored, the lights overhead almost blinding the heroes on the ground.

Exoskeletons lay everywhere, like giant lumps of broken scraps. Some were covered in foam. Others were simply beat to a pulp. The rest were either disintegrated or so dented there was no chance they'd work again.

Baymax finally managed to right himself and moved as fast as he could to where Hiro had gone down. "Hiro!" He scanned the boy, who now lay lifeless on the floor. Thankfully, his vitals still read strong, though there were some decided injuries.

Knowing the others were also injured, Baymax swept his gaze around the arena. The data that came back told him several of the pilots were dead, mostly due to internal trauma. Several were in critical condition and needed immediate medical attention. Most of the men from the catwalk were unconscious but stable.

Then his scanner found the others in his team. Honey was unconscious, possibly with a concussion. Fred was also unconscious, with the need for medical attention to his wound. Rose Tyler was losing blood through her injury and would likely need a transfusion. Wasabi seemed mostly unharmed, minus some abrasions and contusions. GoGo had sustained deeper bruises and lacerations but would recover. And the Doctor, his neural transmitter levels were off the charts. Jack was fine, albeit exhibiting signs of stress.

Those still conscious looked up at the sound of the freight elevator activating. Muscles tensed and servos moved as the doors slid open, only to be relaxed at the sight from inside the large car.

Ms. Smith walked out of the elevator like a woman on a mission. She frowned as she looked around, a dozen or so UNIT agents fanning out behind her as she adjusted her glasses.

"About time you got here!" Jack called from his perch, his voice echoing in the silent room.

The woman glanced up at Jack's position while her men moved to converge on the incapacitated exoskeletons. "I would have been here sooner if you'd let me in on all your little friends' plans," she admonished, getting only a shrug in return.

More agents arrived through the main doors. Two were holding a woman in their grasp. The woman struggled to free herself but was unable to do so. Her guards brought her towards Ms. Smith, forcing her to kneel.

Ms. Smith looked down at the woman in front of her. "Hello again, Aria Kim. It's been a while."

Kim glared up at Ms. Smith. "I should have known you'd be behind this," she spat. "You never did approve of me. Did Alistair Krei put you up to this, or are you working on your own?"

The UNIT agent gave her a cold look. "Alistair Krei has nothing to do with this. But, if I'd realized you were the snake you are, I would have advised him against hiring you in the first place."

Kim laughed at that. "It was brilliant, you know," she confided, her eyes still rebellious. "I almost got my revenge on him. But you had to send those bratty kids after me." She turned to nod at the room in general.

Another officer marched up to Ms. Smith, saluting. "We've found and now are detaining Mr. Thomas."

Ms. Smith nodded. "Have him transported to command and put under 24-hour observation. I'll interrogate him when we get back."

"Yes, sir!" The man saluted again, straightening up before moving away to relay her instructions.

Kim's face paled at this turn of events, but she controlled it well. "So, what now? Are you going to send me to the review board?"

Ignoring the sarcastic tone, Ms. Smith shook her head. "No. Where you're going is much worse. We don't do trails or hearings. I hope you enjoy your stay." She glanced at the two guards holding the woman. "Take her away."

The two men frog-marched Aria Kim to the elevator. She yelled back threats the entire way. Her words were only cut off when the elevator doors closed.

The Doctor had managed to regain his feet once the initial shock had worn off. "Ms. Smith," he greeted as he strode over to the woman. "I wondered when you'd show up. Now, if you don't mind, we have some people in need of serious medical attention."

Ms. Smith let out a heavy sigh. "Doctor. You really should have told me what you had in mind, instead of keeping me in the dark." But she motioned for the medics to be called in.

Looking a bit sheepish, the Time Lord rubbed at the back of his neck. "Yeah. Well, you see, I wanted to give them a chance." He swept his hand outward to indicate the local heroes. "You know, help build their confidence."

The raised brows she gave him only served to bring out a smile on his face. "You have some very unusual methods," she admonished. "You almost got them all killed."

The Doctor cringed a bit at that, his teeth showing in a somewhat nervous manner. "Well, yeah, I suppose so. But I made a promise." And he left it at that.

While the medics took care of the others, Baymax hovered over Hiro. The boy was still unresponsive, despite attempts to rouse him. "Doctor," the robot called out to the Time Lord. "Your assistance is required."

Hearing the call, the Doctor gave a bit of a shrug and turned away from the woman he'd been facing. "Duty calls," he said by way of excuse as he moved towards the super hero duo.

It didn't take long for the Time Lord to reach Baymax and Hiro. A medic had already removed the boy's helmet, confirming the robot's reports on his vital signs. "What's up?" he inquired.

Baymax had removed his helmet and set it to one side. His super sensor was decidedly malfunctioning and it interfered with his normal scanner. "It would appear that Hiro has reconnected with the energy life form."

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver, which he'd retrieved while UNIT stormed the place. He flipped to the appropriate setting and scanned the boy with it, frowning a bit. "I think you're right," he confirmed. "Not sure if I can break it this time, though. Might cause a bit of damage if I do. I think we just have to wait and take care of the physical side of things."

Baymax seemed to stare at the Time Lord for a moment before looking back at the boy. His scans indicated an unusual amount of energy surrounding his friend. There were also several more deep bruises, with a cut along his face. "I hope you are correct in your diagnosis," he said.


	33. Decisions

Hiro felt like crap. There was no other way to put it. His body felt pummeled, and his head was killing him. He vaguely recalled hearing the most awful noise before losing consciousness, realizing he was technically asleep. It was a weird sensation, knowing he wasn't awake.

"Hey, bonehead." Tadashi was flicking him in the forehead and he opened his eyes.

"Stop it," he admonished his older brother, one hand going to his head to try and calm the raging headache.

Tadashi leaned back against something, a chair maybe? Hiro wasn't sure. "Not bad," the older Hamada said. "You did good. Got the crap beat out of you, but you did good. I'm proud of you."

Feeling rather groggy, Hiro groaned as he tried to move. "Thanks? I think?"

Tadashi helped him to a more upright position. "You've helped out a lot of people, you know. You're a hero, and I couldn't be any prouder. But I have to tell you something. The entity promised to help you with something if you helped them. Don't ask them to bring me back, okay?"

That brought Hiro upright in a hurry. "What?! Why not! All I ever wanted was to have you back! Don't take that chance away from me!"

Hiro felt his brother's hands settle on his shoulders. "Hey, I already told you. I'll always be right here." He moved one hand to touch Hiro's chest, just above his heart. "Isn't that enough?"

The boy shook his head, tears leaking from his eyes. "It's never enough," he sobbed. "I miss you so much. I don't ever want to lose you again."

"Even at the expense of what you have now?"

Hiro looked up at that comment. "What do you mean?"

Tadashi removed his hands and cupped his neck as he sighed. "You can't have it both ways, you know. Someone I once met told me that some events are set in time, that stopping them would unravel the fabric of time itself. They're set for a reason. My death is one of those times."

"No!" Hiro protested, throwing himself at his brother's chest. "No!"

"Hey," Tadashi soothed. "It's okay. Just think about it for a moment. If I don't die, would you be who you are now? Wouldn't that change things?"

Sniffling, Hiro had to nod.

"Don't be sad," Tadashi continued. "You'll get through this, one day at a time. I know you will. You're strong. Just remember that everything I did, I did for you. Make that count. Don't dwell on the past."

Tadashi vanished from his arms like smoke. "Tadashi! No!" Hiro cried out as he took a few quick steps forward to regain his balance. "Don't leave me!"

"Hiro."

The boy turned around to see his friends standing in front of him. "Guys. I..." he swallowed hard, more tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

"You have done well," Baymax said. "We require only one more thing, a way to return home. Once that is accomplished, we will help you with your wish."

Tadashi's words echoed in Hiro's mind. Don't ask them to bring me back, okay? Something seemed to rip inside his heart but he nodded. "I don't want you to bring him back," he said, his voice choked with emotion. "I don't need a reward."

Wasabi nodded. "That's fine. But as you are the only one we can connect with, we still need you to take us back home. The rip in time and space is closing. We don't have much time."

Hiro closed his eyes for a brief moment, trying to rally his spirit. "I don't know how to get you back there," he confessed. "I'm still just a kid. I can make things and I'm good with my hands, but I don't know how to get you back there."

"Ask the Doctor," all five said at the same time. "The Doctor knows a way. You will be our vessel and he will take us back to the stars."

.............................

Hiro woke with a start, sitting bolt upright on the stretcher someone had put him on. Heart pounding, he wasn't sure where he was at first.

"Easy now," a familiar voice said, then it all came rushing back to him, along with a heavy dose of dizziness.

The boy groaned. "This has got to stop happening," he complained, one hand to his throbbing head. He ached all over this time, and not because of the mental strain of hosting an energy life form. His body literally felt pummeled. "I fell, didn't I?" It was the only logical explanation.

"I regret that I was unable to catch you," Baymax said, coming into view as he leaned around the Doctor. "How do you feel?"

Hiro smiled as he lay back down. "Physically or emotionally? Because I've been better on both counts."

"Humor is a good indicator of mental health," Baymax informed. "Your blood sugar levels are low. Have a lollipop."

The robot handed Hiro a red sucker, which he took without thinking. "Thanks buddy. How are the others?"

The Doctor scanned Hiro again with his screwdriver, glasses back on his face. "They'll be all right," he answered, studying the readings.

"They are no longer in any immediate danger," Baymax said. "Fred sustained a gunshot wound to his left arm but should recover completely. Honey Lemon received a mild concussion but is already awake. GoGo will be sore for several days as her muscles recover from contusions and minor lacerations. Rose Tyler had to receive a blood transfusion due to a gunshot wound to her right leg. Jack Harkness received no injuries."

Hiro let out a slight chuckle. "That's good." The information as probably a bit over the top, but he appreciated it all the same. "What about the exoskeletons. Did we get them all?"

"All exoskeletons have been accounted for and have been deactivated," Baymax informed.

The sigh of relief Hiro released was large, giving him a sense of peace he hadn't felt for some time. "Good." He stuck the lollipop in his mouth, sans wrapper, and sucked on it.

While they were talking, the Doctor performed another scan, frowning even more. "This can't be right," he finally said, shaking the sonic screwdriver.

Baymax looked up at the Time Lord. "What seems to be the trouble?"

Shaking the device again, the Doctor decided to wham it against the side of the gurney a few times. "This thing isn't working properly," he answered, a pause between each word. "Either that or Hiro is still connected to the alien entity." He glanced at the boy, adjusting his glasses.

Hiro felt suddenly heavy again, his eyes going wide at the possibility. "They did say I was going to be their vessel to get back home," he admitted. "They said you knew a way to take me to their home."

The Doctor's brows furrowed even more at that declaration and he slowly shook his head. "No. No. No. No. No! Not going to happen! I am not going to re-expose you to the Rift!"

Feeling a bit better, Hiro propped himself up with one elbow. "Why not? All we have to do is go there and let them out, right?"

But the Time Lord shook his head. "It's not that simple. Energy life forms need a host, something to inhabit. They can't just float in the ether. They have to have some kind of vessel. If they were a different kind of entity, it wouldn't be a problem, but not this. Not like this."

Baymax turned to blink at the Doctor. "If Hiro does not return this entity to the Rift, what will it do to him?"

The Doctor's shoulders slumped and he slipped his glasses off his nose, stowing them back in his pocket. "I don't know. The human body wasn't meant to hold this kind of energy. Eventually, it will likely just burn him up. Poof, like a star going nova."

Hiro's heart thudded at that idea and he sat up all the way, ignoring the rush of blood from his head. "No way. You can't let that happen to me! There has to be a way! There has to be!"

The Doctor shook his head sadly. "The only other kind of vessel that can house them has to be touched by the Rift. The only other option is to contact the woman you pulled from inside, Abigail, wasn't it?"

But Hiro was shaking his head. "I can't do that to her," he replied. "Not after rescuing her from there in the first place. Not going to happen." He felt glad no one else was in the room, though he still didn't know where they were. But he knew his friends would agree. They couldn't do that to Abigail. But they wouldn't let him sacrifice himself like that either.

"There is another way," Baymax spoke up and both Time Lord and mortal looked in his direction. "As I recall, my current body is not the original one. My original frame is still inside the Rift. Would that make an acceptable vessel?"

The Doctor paused mid-breath, contemplating the idea. "Yes, that just might work. If we can find it."

Hiro stared at Baymax with mixed emotions. The core of what made Baymax, Baymax was indeed no longer in the original body Tadashi had created. But part of him still felt hesitant about the idea of plugging an alien entity inside the vinyl body for the rest of forever. "Are you sure about this, buddy?" His throat felt tight as he asked.

Baymax stared for a moment, processing the data his scanner gave him. He then blinked. "Yes."

"We'll have to get you out of here," the Doctor spoke up. "After you passed out, UNIT showed up to play cleanup and brought you to their headquarters. Incidentally, Ms. Smith wants to debrief you when you're coherent enough."

Hiro let out a bit of a snort at that idea. There was no way he was going to play crony to the personal assistant of Alistair Krei, secret keeper or no. "Not going to happen."

The Time Lord scratched at his chin. "I rather thought you'd say that. Lucky for us, I have this." He pulled out a small key on a chain and held it up. It seemed to glow faintly with a pulsing light. "Key to the TARDIS. With this, I can bring her right to us."

Watching, Hiro saw him do something with the key, though he wasn't sure what. A moment later, the telltale sound of the TARDIS filled the room, followed by the actual blue box.

"Shouldn't we let the others know what's going on?" Hiro asked a little hesitantly. Things were suddenly moving really fast.

The door opened to the police box and the Doctor stepped partially inside. "Nah. The longer we wait, the less chance have of this working. Besides, we need to get your robot friend re-suited if he's going to help us find his original body."

Hiro looked back at Baymax. "Can you do that?"

Baymax seemed to nod. "If my enhanced scanner is repaired, I should be able to detect my original body."

"Come on," the Time Lord urged, waving for them to get inside the TARDIS. "Let's go before one of the medics come back. We wait too long and they'll keep us from going. It's now or never."

After one more moment of hesitation, Hiro leapt from the gurney and grabbed Baymax's hand. "Come on, buddy. Let's go." He sprinted to the TARDIS, pulling the giant marshmallow behind him.

...................

Cass Hamada almost passed out when the giant blue box disappeared from the garage. She'd gone in to see if Hiro was still there, just checking on things. He'd been rather secretive lately and she wanted to know why. Then the blue monstrosity had made a funny noise, the light on top flashing, and it simply disappeared.

She slumped down into the swivel chair, her legs giving out from under her. What was going on? On second thought, maybe she was better off not knowing, she decided. Taking a moment to compose herself, she got back up and headed back to the café. Customers didn't care if strange things happened in the garage, and what they didn't know wouldn't scare them away.

...................

The TARDIS made to quick trips. The first was to the armory where they'd stashed Baymax's armor. The second stop was back to Hiro's garage, moments after Aunt Cass had returned to the café.

Hiro all but threw the door open as he dashed to the computer, Baymax's helmet in hand. At the back of his mind, he recalled the last time he'd had to reinstall the software that ran the scanner. That time he'd been emotionally overwhelmed with an intense need for revenge. Then Baymax had basically smacked the sense back into him with video images of his brother.

Ignoring the sudden tightness in his chest, Hiro plugged in the appropriate cable and hit the enter key. Almost invisible lines showed up on the visor, wavy at first, then straightening out as the program rebooted. "That should do it," the boy said as he unplugged the cord.

He ran back into the TARDIS where Baymax waited. He had to climb onto the bench seat to reach the robot's head, but managed to lock the helmet in place. "How's that, buddy?"

Thanks to the Doctor, the robot was already in full armor and all but ready to go when Hiro came dashing in. Now with his helmet back in place, Baymax swiveled his head back and forth almost experimentally. "My scanner is operational," he announced.

"Good," Hiro said as he climbed down from the bench. "Only one more thing to worry about." He turned to the Doctor. "I forgot to ask you something. What kind of effect do you think the Rift will have on me going in a second time?"

The Doctor came from around the console. "Thought you might ask me that." He held up a space suit. "That's why I dug out this. Probably too big for you it should at least protect you from the elements."

Hiro looked at the suit offered him, wondering how he'd be able to stay on Baymax's back like that. "Um... I'm not sure that will work," he admitted, explaining why.

"I will carry you," Baymax said in answer to his dilemma. "As you may be incapacitated during our mission, I feel it is best I do not leave the possibility of you falling."

The boy patted the robot on one arm. "Thanks buddy. I appreciate that." He took the offered suit, putting it on over his superhero clothes, which helped make it not quite so large on him, even though the arms and legs were too long. He hitched them up as best he could.

With the Doctor's help, Hiro settled the helmet, locking it in place. "This is so weird," he commented, his voice slightly distorted through the speaker on the side. "I'm not sure I like it."

"Can't be helped," the Time Lord commented. "We can't risk you getting exposed to any more of the Rift than necessary. "We're taking a big risk as is." He went back to the console, fiddling with the controls. "I've set the coordinates," he continued. "We're ready once all passengers are on board. Think you can tell our little friend we're good to go?"

Hiro looked towards Baymax, his expression one filled with worry. "Uh... I'm not really sure how," he confessed. "Maybe you need to do that sonic thingy again."

Baymax turned to look at the Doctor. "I do not like the idea of inflicting Hiro with that wavelength again," he admitted. "It does not seem to afford a pleasant experience. Do you know of any alternate means he might use instead?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Not really. Unless Hiro can call them on his own, we just might have to go that route."

With all eyes turned on him, Hiro felt suddenly much smaller than he was. It didn't help that the suit he wore was way too big. "I can try," he managed, his voice cracking on the last word as he settled into a meditative sitting position. Closing his eyes, he focused on breathing deeply, trying to calm his suddenly pounding heart. "Relax, Hiro. You can do this."

Baymax watched as his patient calmed himself, his breathing gradually evening out as he relaxed. He sensed a slight alteration in Hiro's brain patterns and neurotransmitter levels. "I think it is working," he announced as the energy around Hiro began to hum.

Hiro's eyes flew open, but they were completely white and almost seemed to glow. He didn't blink at all, not even after a minute had passed.

The Doctor moved closer, bending to be at eye level. "Hiro? Can you hear me?" He tapped the helmet lightly, just to see if it would draw any attention.

The boy's mouth opened, but it wasn't Hiro's voice that came out. Instead, it sounded like a multitude of voices all in one. "We are the Makt. Hiro is unable to hear you or see you. Are you the Doctor?"

Moving his sonic screwdriver up and down to scan the boy, the Time Lord nodded. "That's me." He frowned at the readings he got back from his scan. "There's a lot more of you than I thought there would be."

"We are many," came the reply "We are numberless."

The Doctor nodded. "I can see that. I hope you know the plan, or do I need to bring you up to speed?"

Hiro shook his head, still not blinking. "No. We understand what you are trying to do. If the body prepared has indeed been saturated with particles from the Rift, there should not be any problems. Shall we proceed? This mortal body will not last long."

Given the reminder, the Doctor jumped to his feet. "Right. Shall we be off, then?" He ran to the console and threw a switch, activating the central column.

The TARDIS gave off the most unnatural sounding groan as the mechanisms inside activated. The floor began to shake, like a giant had picked it up from outside and was flinging it to and fro.

Baymax grabbed Hiro around the waste with one arm, holding onto the nearest railing with the other. "I do not approve of this rough handling," he announced, but realized the Doctor had nothing to do with it. In fact, the Doctor was doing his best to cling to the console so he wouldn't go flying as well.

After what felt like an eternity, the floor stabilized and the central column went still. The Time Lord let out his held breath and went to check the monitor. "Looks like she's landed us just outside the tear," he informed his passengers. "Though part of me wishes we'd come a little closer."

"Bringing your ship into the Rift is not advisable," Hiro said in that multi-voice manner. "You must send the boy and his robot in alone. You cannot join them."

The Doctor came around towards Hiro, his expression incredulous. "Can't join them? What do you mean I can't join them?"

Hiro stood almost mechanically. "If you are to succeed, one must remain outside to pull the others in. There is no other way."

"Now wait a minute," the Time Lord began to protest but was cut off by a motion from Baymax.

"It will be all right," the robot assured the older man. "I will make sure Hiro returns without harm. We do not have time to argue. I already detect the possibility of physical distress and do not wish to prolong it."

Realizing Baymax was right, the Doctor moved to the TARDIS doors and threw them wide open. When Hiro approached the doors, he wagged a finger in the child's eyes. "You make sure you let him go as soon as possible. You hear me? If you don't, I will come after you, to the ends of time, and I will make you pay."

For the first time since becoming possessed, Hiro blinked. "Understood, Time Lord. Time is running out." He turned to Baymax and gave a nod.

Baymax secured Hiro with one arm, his wings activating. "It will be all right," he assured once more before activating his thrusters and launching Hiro and himself into space.


	34. Closure

The Rift beckoned like a slithering snake of light in the otherwise darkened sky. Baymax aimed directly for the largest part of the tear. Despite being a robot, a strange sense of déjà vu filled him as he plunged inside the rent in space.

Cotton candy clouds of varying pastel hues filled the horizon, constantly changing like a kaleidoscope. Ahead, chunks of debris floated aimlessly in space, the remains of Krei Tech's building that had been pulled in through the failed portal. But it was not in that direction that Baymax turned.

Off to one side loomed an area darker than the others, apart from the silently moving space junk. Baymax shot towards it, his scanner picking up a distinct signal that only he could make. "Approaching target," he informed his passenger as they moved forward at an incredible speed.

When they were within a dozen or so yards of the floating vinyl, Baymax reversed his thrusters to slow them down. Despite this precaution, they overshot their mark and had to turn around to come up alongside the white body, the remains of the red armor still on its lower section.

"We have arrived," Baymax said, not reaching out to touch the look-a-like. Instead, he looked down at his passenger. "I do not know what you intend to do, but I suggest doing so quickly."

Hiro's body arched back, his helmet hitting against Baymax's black armor as his legs floated free. If it hadn't been for the robot's firm hold on the suit, he would have floated off.

Heat began to radiate off of the boy and his arms and legs shot straight out, like someone had sent a jolt of electricity through his system. Baymax blinked as his scanner registered a large level of energy gathering near the boy's heart. Then, like someone had opened a dam, the energy shot out of him like a beam of light, piercing the vacant robot in front of them.

Once all of the energy had left Hiro's body, the boy went limp, his head lulling forward, the motion threatening to carry him from Baymax's body. But the robot's grip was firm and he pulled him back towards himself.

Something was happening with the robot in front of them. Having previously been deactivated by Hiro's words all those months ago, its eyes flew open as the energy life forms coursed through its skeletal structure.

"Hiro?"

The boy groaned as his eyes flickered open and he looked up at the sound. "Baymax?"

The robot blinked, its half destroyed red armor somehow looking newer than when he'd created it. "Thank you, Hiro. You have done us a great service. Are you sure you do not wish for us to fulfill the wish of your heart?"

Hiro moved to wipe his eyes, realizing he was wearing a space suit. He felt so groggy and heavy, like his entire body had melted then been poured back into the mold. Don't ask them to bring me back. He groaned again as those words echoed in his mind. "That's okay," he managed to say.

A few stray tears slid down his cheek under the glass of the helmet. It was weird seeing the original Baymax again. It felt like they'd come full circle somehow. But he now had his own Baymax by his side, one he'd created with his own two hands. He hadn't done the coding. That was a gift from Tadashi, but he still had his friend.

"I'm going to miss you," he admitted as he reached out a hand towards the white figure in front of him.

The robot reached back with his three-fingered hand, momentarily clasping Hiro's with its own. "We will always remember you," it said. "If you wish to change your mind, just wish on a star and we will give you the opportunity to change things."

Hiro smiled back, his expression more sad than anything. "Yeah. I'll do that." If he changed his mind.

"We need to return to the TARDIS,' his Baymax informed. "Your exposure to this environment has already exceeded the recommended allotment."

Giving a bit of a sob, Hiro lunged forward enough to wrap his arms around the old Baymax's body. Two seconds later, he let go. "I'm ready," he announced.

Baymax tucked him firmly under one arm as he maneuvered to face the way they'd come. Free fist pointing towards the rip in space, he activated his thrusters and sent them towards home.

...............................

The Doctor watched from the TARDIS doors, hoping beyond hope that Hiro and his robot would make it back. Part of him felt that he wouldn't, but he quashed that idea, resisting the urge to start pacing.

They'd been gone for several minutes already. Assuming the amount of energy engulfing Hiro's small body continued to do so, if they didn't hurry up, the boy would literally explode. And he didn't know how to tell the others that had happened.

He was just about to run for the controls, sending the TARDIS into the Rift when something black shot out from the tear in space, heading towards him like a meteor. His hearts lurched as he realized what that meant. "That's no meteor!" he exclaimed as he spun with excited relief.

Waving, he watched as Baymax braked before coming into the TARDIS's immediate vicinity. "Well done!" he called out as he reached out with one hand, the other holding firmly onto the door's frame, to pull the robot and boy back inside.

Baymax seemed to dance several steps inside, coming up the ramp to the main desk before stopping. Once no longer in motion, he gently set Hiro down on the ground. "Doctor, please help me to remove his helmet," he requested.

Wasting no time, the Doctor threw the doors closed and raced up the ramp. Kneeling, he twisted Hiro's helmet off and threw it to one side.

Hiro had passed out again, his breathing a bit ragged from the strain on his body. With the robot's help, however, the Doctor removed the suit from the boy, allowing him greater circulation.

"Hiro's heart rate has decreased dramatically," Baymax announced. "And his blood sugar levels are low." He continued to monitor the boy, just in case he needed to use his built-in defibrillators to bring the boy out of cardiac arrest.

The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver and ran it up and down above Hiro's body, checking the readings once he was done. "Looks like only residual amounts of energy are here," he commented thoughtfully. "Not surprising. Probably take his body a bit to readjust to the change."

Hiro let out a faint moan, throwing one hand up over his eyes. "Ugh. I'm never doing that ever again," he said, his voice sounding like it was filtered through gravel.

Seeing him regaining consciousness, the Doctor dashed over to the bench seat and took out a small pouch from a compartment there. He came back with the item in hand. "Welcome back," he said as the boy's eyes opened. "Take a sip of that. Bring you right back in a jiffy." He handed the pouch to Hiro, who took it without question.

One sip was more than enough to bring Hiro back to full consciousness. "Yuck!" He tossed the pouch to one side. "Did you really just give me another one of those electrolyte things?" He made funny gagging faces at the taste, trying to get it out of his mouth.

"Your vital signs have returned to normal," Baymax announced, seeming to release a sigh of relief as he leaned back in his armor. "With proper diet and exercise, you should make a full recovery."

"Yeah," Hiro said, moving one heavy arm to pat the robot's foot. "Once I stop feeling like a giant sandbag. I'm so ready for a vacation."

The Doctor smiled at that quip. "Aren't we all. But, lest we forget, there is a nice group of people waiting for us back on earth. I'm sure they'll all be wondering where we tottered off to any time now."

Hiro groaned at the reminder, knowing Ms. Smith, in particular, would likely give him a good chewing out. Chances were good, though, that Aunt Cass would give him an even worse one, once she saw his physical condition, all covered in bruises and shallow cuts, acting like he had a hangover. "I have the world's worst headache," he declared.

........................................

When Honey Lemon woke up, she was in a sterile white room on a gurney. Several feet away, she could see Fred also on a portable bed. He no longer had his lizard suit on, but had a white gauze bandage wrapped around his injured arm. She moved to look to the other side, her head aching at the movement. "Ugh."

Hearing the sound, a medic came into view, checking her eyes by shining a flashlight in them. "Good morning," she greeted her patient. "Welcome back to the waking world. How do you feel?"

Honey decided lying still was probably her best option at the moment and returned to her original position. "Dizzy," she admitted to the medical practitioner. "I feel a little sick."

The medic nodded. "You've suffered a moderate concussion. Chances are good you'll feel sluggish and disoriented for a while, but it should pass."

"Where are the others?" Honey asked, afraid to move so as not to trigger any more dizziness or nausea.

Correctly interpreting her patient's concern, the medic took up Honey's hand to measure her pulse. "They'll be fine. Most are just resting. When you feel up to it, there are a few people who'd like to talk to you."

"Okay," Honey agreed, not sure who would want to talk to her, outside of the members of her own group. And they already knew what had happened. Maybe it was that funny group called UNIT. She hoped not, though. They hadn't been that impressive.

A door opened somewhere down the far wall and voices filtered in. "What do you mean they've disappeared? Don't just stand there! Go find them!"

Without understanding why, Honey felt she knew who had gone missing. She sat upright, regretting the motion the moment she'd completed it. She put one hand to her head as she slipped from the bed, her high heels clacking against the tiled floor.

"Wait a minute!" the medic protested, turning around from checking on one of the other patients in her charge.

But Honey didn't wait. Instead, she fumbled her way to the door and into the wall. "Hiro," she breathed, wondering just what their leader had done now. It was just like him to try and skip out of an awkward situation involving government officials. He didn't like the limelight by any stretch of the imagination and she didn't blame him.

Honey stumbled down the hallway and into an open area that looked more like an indoor courtyard than anything else. Men and women seemed to rush to various places as she stopped to stare around her. What was going on?

At that moment, a familiar but funny sound filled the air and she turned slightly towards the source as a light pulsed and the air kicked up in a small breeze. The next second, the TARDIS stood in the middle of the floor, its door opening wide to show the Doctor leaning out. "Hello!"

Several men in uniforms converged on the TARDIS, not sure if they should draw weapons or radios. One finally brought his radio to his mouth. "We've located the Doctor," he said into the mouthpiece.

The Time Lord stepped free of the TARDIS doors like he'd merely gone out on a little walk, his brown jacket flapping behind him. Moments later, Baymax, no longer wearing his armor, emerged with Hiro in his arms.

"We've also located the boy," the same man said into his handset.

"Hiro!" Honey breathed and ran towards her friend, heedless of the others milling around the area.

The boy gave a bit of a half-hearted wave from his position in Baymax's arms. "Hey," he greeting. He moved to get down, his legs a bit rubbery as his feet made contact with the ground. "Should you be up and walking?" He remembered hearing Baymax's diagnosis for the female chemist.

Honey let out a strangled laugh as she fell on the boy, holding him tightly. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you," she gushed. She didn't remember much after crashing into the wall, but the way Hiro looked told her all she needed to know.

Feeling more than a little uncomfortable, Hiro pressed Honey back a few inches. "I'm okay," he said "Really. But are you okay?" He searched her face for signs of injury, glad to see only a few scratches and bruises, though there was a lump to one side of her ear.

The Latino nodded as she moved in to squeeze him again. "I'm so glad!"

"What is going on here?" Ms. Smith asked as she marched into the room. The UNIT officers around her immediately went to attention.

"Hey!" The Doctor smiled brightly, one hand cupped behind his neck, looking more like the kid who'd been caught stealing cookies than the man who'd just helped save the planet, again. "Ms. Smith! Lovely running into you again."

His exclamations seemed to put Ms. Smith off stride a bit and she slowed her speed, stopping a few feet short of the Time Lord. "I wasn't informed that you were leaving, and taking a few others with you." She glanced pointedly at Baymax and Hiro. "We haven't debriefed them yet."

The Doctor moved to put an arm around Ms. Smith's shoulders, turning her away from the TARDIS. "Come now," he admonished. "Hiro's not one of your people. All you need to know can be quickly summed up into a few words. We won. You've got the bad guys in custody. The alien entity is gone. You have nothing else to worry about."

Ms. Smith dug in her heels, causing them to stop. "What do you mean the alien entity is gone?"

Showing surprise, the Time Lord rubbed at his chin. "Oh, didn't I tell you? We sent it back to the Rift. It's long gone now. No point in looking for it. Didn't mean anyone any harm anyway. Now, if you don't mind, I have a companion to find."

"Doctor!"

The Time Lord paused at the familiar voice, even the smile he detected in the tone. The corners of his own lips lifted as he looked towards the hallway. "Rose Tyler!" He dropped his arm from Ms. Smith's shoulder and ran to meet his companion. "Would you look at you!"

Rose leaned heavily on one crutch, her leg wrapped in a brace to try and keep her from pulling at the stitches required from her wound. "Hello," she greeted almost shyly.

"You have no idea how good it is to hear your voice," the Doctor said, pulling her into a hug.

"Anyone got a hug for me?" Fred piped up as he entered the room, his arm now in a sling. Wasabi and GoGo stood behind him, both looking a little worse for wear, but alive.

Seeing them, Hiro disengaged himself from Honey's embrace and walked rather awkwardly towards the trio. Reaching them, they all fell into a group hug. Baymax shuffled after his young charge, Honey Lemon behind him. They both joined in the hug, nearly squeezing Hiro, who had somehow wound up in the middle.

"If you are quite through," Ms. Smith said, clearing her throat, "perhaps we can discuss what just happened?"

Rose glanced at the Doctor, who gave a bit of a funny smile, his shoulders momentarily lifting in a shrug. "Might as well," he answered, putting his arm around the girl, leading her back down the hall. "Allonsy!"

.............................

Cass Hamada frowned as a familiar blue box seemed to appear across the street. She felt fairly certain it had not been there only a moment before. And it looked decidedly like the one that had taken up residence in her garage the last few days.

While thus distracted, she accidentally spilled coffee all over the man whose mug she'd stopped to top off. His exclamations brought her attention back to the situation at hand and she apologized profusely, running to get a towel to clean up the mess. She came back with a pastry, on the house, for her mess up.

The door at the back of the café opened, the one leading from the side street. She looked up quickly from wiping up the spill, hoping to see past the wall that separated private staircase from the rest of the store.

Seeing her distraction, one of her employees took over wiping up the spill. "Go," the college student told her boss, giving her a little nudge towards the back, in case she'd misunderstood.

Cass abandoned the towel and quickly walked to the back of the store. Taking the stairs two at a time, she thought about a few choice words she had for her nephew, who'd been missing for over a day now.

"Hiro?" she called out as she reached the top stair, pausing as she turned to face the living area. There he was, her nephew, and he looked like a mess. All thoughts of reprimanding him flew from her mind as she rushed to pull him into her arms. "Are you okay?"

Hiro didn't move as his aunt enveloped him in a tight hug. He knew he looked like death warmed over. He didn't need a mirror to tell him that. He could feel it.

Ms. Smith cleared her throat as she stood waiting to one side. After careful consideration, she'd decided it best to take the Doctor's offer without a fuss. She'd help get Hiro off the hook with his aunt, and then she'd leave him alone, at least as far as UNIT was concerned.

Hearing the sound, Aunt Cass looked up. "Oh." She smoothed her apron. "Aren't you Mr. Krei's personal assistant?"

Ms. Smith nodded. "I just wanted to let you know that Alistair Krei appreciates the boy's help and regrets that he neglected to make sure the scaffolding in his lab was completely secure before allowing him up there."

Cass switched her attention back to Hiro. "You fell off some scaffolding?" Her eyes went wide at the idea. "Let me look at you!" She turned him every which way to assess the damage.

"I'm fine," Hiro protested, pulling away from her arms. "Some of this is from the earthquake. Promise. I was the one being stupid by not watching where I was going."

Slightly reassured, Cass let her hands drop from his shoulders. "And just what were you doing with Mr. Krei that made it so you couldn't at least call me?" She changed her worried expression for a scowl.

Ms. Smith adjusted her glasses as she took a step forward. "As you know, my employer has shown a great deal of interest in young Hiro ever since his presentation on the SFIT campus. He invited him over to explore Krei Industries. Your nephew merely didn't want to worry you."

Cass turned back to face the assistant. "Didn't want to worry me?" Her tone implied the possibility of her losing it soon. "How could I not worry when my nephew hasn't been seen for over twenty-four hours? How could that not make me worry!"

"Sorry, Aunt Cass," Hiro said, his head hanging down. He hadn't exactly prepared himself for this outcome, though he knew it was a possibility.

The enraged café owner continued to glare at Ms. Smith. "You know where the door is," she said, pointing at the stairs, glad when the woman didn't question her sincerity by heading back down the stairs.

With Krei's assistant out of sight, Cass turned back to her nephew, pinching his ear. "How could you! Not telling me where you were! I was worried sick!"

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Hiro exclaimed as his ant squeezed his earlobe between her fingers. He was glad when she finally released the pressure. No matter how old he got, he knew she'd still use that technique on him, just like she had on Tadashi that one night she'd had to get them out of jail.

"Don't you ever do that to me again, you hear?"

Hiro nodded, his expression contrite. At least she hadn't found out what he'd really been up to. Who knew how she'd react to that?

"By the way," she continued as she turned to go back down the stairs, "you're grounded for a week."

The boy almost smiled at that. "Okay."

"Nothing but school and straight home, you hear?"

Hiro nodded, just in case his aunt turned to look back, but she didn't as she disappeared down the stairs, back to the busy café below. He let out a slight laugh at the whole situation, and then made his way to the window overlooking the street out front.

Looking down, he saw the TARDIS resting next to a store display. The door opened at the Doctor stepped partially out, Rose Tyler right behind him. Both waved at him before stepping back into the space ship. A few more seconds later and the blue box was gone.

Hiro subconsciously reached for his cell phone, then remembered he didn't have it anymore. He really needed to get a new one, he decided. It was a pity he hadn't gotten to say goodbye to Jack, but he really just wanted to call the others to let them know how things had gone.

Deciding that could wait, Hiro made his way back down the stairs, careful to avoid being seen by any café goers. He made his way back to the garage where Baymax was busy putting his armor into storage containers, designed for that exact purpose.

"Hey buddy," he greeted the robot nurse. "Looks like I'll be getting that rest you recommended after all. I'm grounded for a week."

For the briefest of moments, Hiro thought he saw Baymax smile.

.........................

From outside the cafe, Jack Harkness watched as the TARDIS disappeared. He did feel a bit bad about just running out on everyone after the battle. But, after all, he was Torchwood and Ms. Smith was UNIT. The two didn't really get along with each other and he'd deemed it best to head on out.

Before he'd left UNIT's base, however, he'd had a quick chat with the Doctor. And, after some debating, decided it would be best to follow some advice in giving a peace offering. It was a bit wrenching to give up one of his toys, but it was for a good cause.

Strictly speaking, what he was doing would probably make Ms. Smith mad, but he knew he rather owed it to Hiro and his friends after some of his behavior. Seeing the one person he'd been looking for, Jack gave a bit of a wave. "Over here," he called to the stranger.

The woman he'd beckoned to seemed a bit out of sorts, though that was likely from the unusual summons. All the same, Jack knew she would help out as much as she could. After all, she'd once been a companion to the Doctor as well. Er, would be. Time was weird.

Jack gave a salute. "Dr. Jones, thank you for coming. I know you can't always be there for them, but if you could help out as much as possible, that would be more than enough. I trust I'm leaving them in good hands." He gave a slight nod towards the cafe as he smiled. They could thank him later. If they ever met again that was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus this story comes to an end. I hope you have enjoyed the journey. And if you really liked it, don't despair. I have a sequel coming very, very soon. Until then, Allonsy!

**Author's Note:**

> I know this one kind of starts off slow, but just wait until things really get going. :O


End file.
